What does the Bible actually teach about the Rapture?

Last Thursday about 5 minutes after I (Meade) posted an article on this blog critiquing Harold Campings teachings on the rapture I received an email (as did all of you who go to our church) from Pastor Richard on what the Bible actually teaches about the rapture.  The two of us were amazed.  We didn’t plan or converse on it at all and our writings were perfectly complementary.  I critiqued the false teaching and Richard explained the truth.  I thought it was cool.  If you haven’t read it yet here’s Richard’s letter explaining the rapture. 

Mr. Harold Camping, a prominent Christian radio Bible teacher, has predicted the rapture of the church for last Saturday, May 21, 2011. His prediction has engendered a range of responses from atheist “rapture parties” http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2015071658_rapture17m.html?prmid=obinsite to full scale preparation to meet the Lord http://www.christianpost.com/news/christian-leaders-respond-to-campings-may-21-rapture-prediction-50275/. Since Mr. Camping’s influence is worldwide the media have given it some attention. If this weekend turns out to be news deprived there will most certainly be ample coverage of this non-event. Moreover, there are many who follow Mr. Camping locally. You may have an opportunity to speak about what you believe.

Do you know what the rapture is and how Bible believing Christians like us should respond to those who ask us? I thought it good to offer you a biblical perspective on rapture questions.

Does the Bible teach a “rapture?” Yes. We can affirm the Bible does teach a future rapture of the church before a time of worldwide tribulation. The English word “rapture” means “snatched up” or “caught up.” The word itself does not appear in English versions of the Bible. Instead it is a summary word describing what we read in John 14:1-3, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, and 1 Corinthians 15:51-52. Not all Christians interpret these passages as a rapture (e.g. reformed denominations see this as part of the Second Coming) and among those who do, not all agree on the timing (e.g. there are pre-, mid-, and post-tribulation positions). But we believe the Scriptures teach a pre-tribulation rapture of believers.

What is the purpose of the rapture? The church has been specifically promised to be spared from God’s wrath because Christ already absorbed it for us on the cross (Rom 8:1; 1 Thess 1:10). God has not destined Christians for wrath but for salvation (1 Thess 5:9). Therefore, Paul made it clear it is inconsistent for Christians to be on the earth at the time God is judging it (1 Thess 4:13-5:10; c.f. Rev 3:10). This future tribulation is specifically meant for Israel and Gentiles alive at the end times. It’s variously called the “Day of the Lord,” the time of “Jacob’s trouble” (Jer 30:7), and time of God’s wrath. It is the subject of many Old Testament prophesies (Zeph 1:14-18; Joel 1:15; 2:2; Jer 23:20-21; 26:20-21; 34:1-3; Isa 13:6) and, of course, much of the book of Revelation. None of the tribulation passages in the New Testament mention the presence of the church and all the descriptions of that period are distinctly Jewish.

The rapture of the church seems also to be necessary in order to inaugurate the Tribulation. Since Scripture affirms that the Holy Spirit dwells within Christians, the removal of the church is a major factor in bringing about this period of judgment. The antichrist is unable to be revealed until “the restrainer” is taken away (2 Thess 2:6-7). It seems logical to conclude that only the Holy Spirit is adequate to restrain sin. Since the church receives special ministries of the Spirit and is indwelt by the Spirit it would appear logical to conclude Spirit-filled believers must be removed from the earth. That would mark the end of Gentile missionary work and commence the Jewish witness of the 144,000 in Revelation 14. Therefore, the rapture concludes the church age and God will resume his special dealing with Israel which stopped at the crucifixion of Jesus.

Is the rapture something new? No. There is biblical precedent for a rapture in the cases of Enoch (Gen 5:24) and Elijah (2 Kings 2:11). Both of these men were caught up to be with God without suffering death.

Will Christians know when the rapture will occur? No. Christians are taught to look for Christ – not signs. Therefore we watch for Jesus not knowing when he will come (1 Thess 1:10; 1 Cor 1:7; Phil 3:20-21; Heb 9:28; Jude 21). The church is never told to look for preceding signs.

This is different than what Christ told Israel to expect. Since Israel will go through the Tribulation they are told to look for the signs which Jesus described as wars, famines, and earthquakes (Matt 24:7-8). They will see the “abomination of desolation” (Matt 24:15; 2 Thess 2:4; Dan 9:27) and cosmic signs such as darkened sun, moon and falling stars (Matt 24:29). Israel is therefore to expect their Messiah after these signs at what is called the Second Coming of Christ. You can see the order of events in the diagram below.

The church will experience the rapture followed by the “marriage supper of the lamb” in heaven during the Tribulation on earth (Rev 19:1-10). This is a period of 7 years of celebration for Christians. The church will then return with Christ to earth to rule and reign with him for the millennial kingdom 1000 years (Rev 19:11-20:4).

If we understand our God at all we understand he takes pleasure in turning man’s weakness and failure to his advantage and glory. So do not be surprised if Mr. Camping’s debacle presents you with an opportunity to humbly explain the reason you have hope in Christ. Prepare an answer.

• We can affirm to skeptics that Jesus is indeed coming back for Christians. He has told us to expect Him and that expectation is one motivation to live a holy life so we are not ashamed at his appearing.

• Those who have set their hope in Mr. Camping’s prophecy may undergo discouragement and disillusionment with Christ, Christian teachers, or themselves. Be prepared to show disheartened followers of Mr. Camping that while people often fail, God does not. Christ is faithful and so are his promises. Point them to better teaching.

• In some families, one spouse is a follower of Mr. Camping and the other not. There may be a loss of confidence in the spouse with regard to spiritual leadership. This could adversely affect their marriage, parenting, or career. In this case it is necessary to help them love and respect each other even in the face of disappointment.

• Mr. Camping has presumed to be a teacher and he will therefore incur a stricter judgment (James 3:1). We, however, at this distance, should refrain from overreacting. Christians are humble, gracious people who often make mistakes. We are to love our enemies, deal gently with wayward sheep, and take a firm stand on truth.

May God give you wisdom, grace and boldness to face the opportunities he provides.

In Christian love,

Pastor Richard

Why you have to distinguish the gospel from religion

I think this video is an incredibly practical point to make when speaking to a non-christian.  When I speak to people who do not yet believe I notice that when I say “believe in Jesus” or “trust Christ” they translate that to “be a better person”.  That’s why you must distinguish the gospel of salvation by faith alone from both irreligion and religion.  You aren’t saved by ending bad behavior and becoming a good person, going to church and reading the Bible.  You are saved AS a bad person who simply trusts in Christ’s free gift righteousness to you on the cross.  This is such an important point to make when many non-christians point of contact with Christians will be through the news media covering fundamentalist groups who use Jesus as a club to threaten people who they think are bad.  God doesn’t divide the world into good and bad people, he divides it up into bad people and Jesus. That truth is very powerful in explaining the gospel to someone who doesn’t yet understand.

Summer Movies

This Summer Faith Community Church is holding a series of fun events for the whole family. We’re having five movie nights that we’re calling “Screen on the Green”. We will be showing five of the most popular kids movies from last year. We will set up our big screen and sound system on the big grass circle behind the church. The showings will be entirely free. All you need is to bring a blanket or lawn chair and we’ll do the rest.

The dates are:

June 24
July 15
July 22
July 29
August 5

The show will start at dusk around 8:30. Our church has a TON of kids right now and there are also a TON of great kids movies that are entertaining to both youths and adults and everyone in between. If we take advantage of the opportunity this is an easy way for us to reach out to people in our community.

Some of you may be curious about the legality of showing movies to our community and you should be. What we’re doing is entirely legal. Our church holds a license to show movies from over 400 studios that we’ve purchased from www.cvli.com. If we did not hold this license showing even a movie clip at Youth Group would be illegal. These are the rules we have to follow to be legal:

1. We can advertise the movie title any way we like (flyers, email, Sunday announcements etc) WITHIN our congregation.
2. OUTSIDE our congregation we are not allowed to mention the movie title or the studio in print. We can only advertise the time and date and have a number to call for more information.
3. We can verbally tell people outside our congregation the movie title and studio.

We will have fliers available for you to give to your neighbors and friends that abide by these legal parameters. However you personally are free to tell people what movies we will be showing.

We would like to provide some snacks and have a team of people who can help setup and take down the screen and sound system. If you are available contact me at meade@faithcc.info.

Will Jesus Return on May 21, 2011?

The short answer is no.  At least if Jesus does return on Saturday it will not be because Harold Camping understood the Bible correctly.  Here are a few reasons why Camping is wrong about predicting the return of Christ on May 21.  This is not intended to be exhaustive.  I’m sure with a little searching you can find more and better rebuttals to Camping online.  I want to be fair in my statement of his beliefs and interpretation so if I’ve misunderstood something he has taught feel free to point it out.

Who Is Harold Camping and What Does He Teach? 

Harold Camping is the president of Family Radio.  He knows the Bible very well if you’ve ever heard his show.  It’s possible he has the Bible pretty close to memorized.  He predicted the return of Christ back in 1994.  When Jesus did not return at that time he said his math was wrong.  He also teaches that the Church, all churches are apostate.  That means all churches teach false doctrine and are ruled, according to him, by Satan.  He teaches that Christians should stop going to church, study the Bible on their own and listen to Family Radio.  He now teaches that Jesus will return this coming Saturday, May 21.

Why May 21, 2011? 

If you visit his site you see over and over again statements about “biblical proof” and “biblical evidence” that is overwhelming and compelling that Christ will return on Saturday.  It takes a bit of searching to actually discover this “proof” but here it is.

1. He dates Great Flood to have taken place at 4990 BC.

2. Genesis 7:4 states “For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” This statement by the Lord was a double prediction first that the flood would strike in 7 days as it did and second that the return of Christ would occur in 7 metaphorical days.

3. 2 Peter 3:8 says “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”  This, in conjunction with point 2 means that Christ will return 7000 years after the Great Flood.

4.  Genesis 7:11 “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened.”  That 17th day of the month he believes to be May 21.

He also has another way he dates the return.  This one I found on the Wikipedia about May 21, 2011 doomsday.

1. According to Camping, the number five equals “atonement”, the number ten equals “completeness”, and the number seventeen equals “heaven”.
2. Christ is said to have hung on the cross on April 1, 33 AD. The time between April 1, 33 AD and April 1, 2011 is 1,978 years.
3. If 1,978 is multiplied by 365.2422 days (the number of days in a solar year, not to be confused with the lunar year), the result is 722,449.
4. The time between April 1 and May 21 is 51 days.
5. 51 added to 722,449 is 722,500.
6. (5 × 10 × 17)² or (atonement × completeness × heaven)² also equals 722,500.
7. Thus, Camping concludes that 5 × 10 × 17 is telling us a “story from the time Christ made payment for our sins until we’re completely saved.”

So what’s wrong with this? 

Probably already hearing his reasoning you are more at ease if you were worried to begin with.  None the less here’s a few reasons why  his teaching is wrong besides the fact that Jesus says in Matthew 24:36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.”

• It is not possible to accurately date the Great Flood of Genesis.  Scholars do not have consensus on how to date many ancient events from the Bible because determining the date often depends on genealogies that can be very difficult to pin down accurately.
• Genesis 7:4 is not a prediction of Christ’s return.  The verse is very clearly speaking about when the Flood will occur.  There is absolutely nothing in the passage or any other verse in the Bible that would indicate that Genesis 7:4 is speaking to any other subject than when the Flood will occur.  This idea came entirely from Campings mind, not the Bible.
• 2 Peter 3:8 is not a numerological key code to teach 1 day = 1000 years.  The context of the passage is that Lord’s perspective on time is different from ours.  Peter is not trying to provide a decoding tool for another prophecy.  Even simple observation of the passage deconstructs Campings reasoning.  It says “one day IS AS a thousand years”.  It’s a simile.
• Even if 2 Peter 3:8 was a numerological key connecting it to Genesis 7:4 is entirely arbitrary.  Why not the days Christ was in the tomb?  Maybe Jesus was in the tomb 3000 years?  Or maybe Jesus was in the wilderness 40,000 years?  Camping is just picking this particular mention of “day” and saying it equals 1000 but the word “day” is used in the Bible (ironically) over 1000 times.  Why in this case is it code?
• The Bible communicates in normal language, not code or numerology.  This is Campings most fundamental error.  The Bible can be difficult to interpret but it is not in code.  Whenever someone uses numerology or Bible codes to teach something you should dismiss what they are saying.
• The Church is not apostate.  This can probably be demonstrated pretty easily.  Camping dates the Churches apostasy to have occurred in 1988.  Was there some sort of sweeping shift in doctrine involving all churches on earth that year?  Of course not.  Now as always there are faithful churches and churches that teach false doctrines and a whole range in between.  Or ask yourself what are the most fundamental doctrines of Christianity and are they taught in many churches?  The obvious answer is yes of course they are.

I’m sure there are a lot of other reasons why Camping is wrong but these are a few of the  most obvious.

What Should We Do?

First, have compassion on people who are worried.  Do not make fun of them.  Gently reason with them and point out some of the fallacies in Campings reasoning as you are able.  I’m worried that because some people are completely convinced they may kill themselves when they’re not raptured this Saturday.  Sunday might be a very dark day for some people.  Reach out to them in love.

Second, remember Jesus is coming back someday.  Since there is usually some weirdness with people who set dates it’s easy to forget that some day Jesus will rapture his church.  It might happen five thousand years from now or five seconds from now but it will happen.

Third, know your Bible and how to interpret it.  For most people Campings teaching falls apart just from reading the passages he builds his teaching on.

5 Mile Race in Chester this Saturday

I read this on Delco Times and thought some of my fellow church racers might be interested.  In our recent survey Chester was a major interest.  The only problem is it’s a bit early.  I spoke to the organizer and he planned it this early to beat the traffic and heat and of course for safety.  If anyone wants to run with me let me know in the comments below.

CHESTER — Resident Bennie Issamadeen is hosting a 5-mile run May 21 to “stop the killing” in Chester.

The run begins at 5 a.m. at 525 Avenue of the States. For more information, call 610-803-3376

Here’s the link to the original article.

What is the “Missional” Church?

Here’s the best short definition of the idea of “missional” church I know of.

I spoke about this a little on Sunday.  I don’t think it’s right to pit the attractional church approach against the missional church approach.   Really they should be complementary to one another.

Several Chester Shelters Closing

Important and discouraging news that will undoubtedly have an impact on our Church’s mercy ministry.

Read the story on Delco Times HERE.

Is it easier to die for God than it is to live for God?

One of the books I’m reading is “When People Are Big and God is Small” by Ed Welch. I came across this passage this afternoon.

Sometimes we would prefer to die for Jesus than to live for him. If someone had the power to kill us for our profession of faith, I imagine that most Christians would say, ‘Yes, I am a believer in Jesus Christ,’ even if it meant death. The threat of torture might make people think twice, but I think most Christians would acknowledge Christ. However, if making a decision for Jesus means that we might spend years being unpopular, ignored, poor or criticized, then there are masses of Christians who temporarily put their faith on the shelf. ‘Death is not imminent, so why hurry into such a rash decision?’ ‘There will be time later to get things straight with God.’ In other words, kill me, but don’t keep me from being liked, appreciated or respected.

What do you think? Is this true? Is it easier to die for God than live for him? I also can’t help thinking of applications to family life as well. Most parents, husbands and wives would die instantly and without hesitation for their child or spouse. However, the daily grind of being unselfish and serving the other person… is much harder. What are your thoughts?

The Gospel Vs. Religion

One of the most important things to understand about Christianity is the difference between the gospel and religion.  I am using religion as a technical term to mean moralism.  Here’s a great (and short) video illustrating some of the ways that the gospel effects our approach to non-christians as opposed to religious moralism.  As it happens I’ve  talked to the street preacher mentioned by the person posing the question at the beginning of the clip.

Car Show This Saturday!

This Saturday May 14 from 10AM – 3PM is our annual car show. There’ll be some fantastic cars, great junk food (the best kind!), a moon bounce and other activities for the kids. Invite friends and neighbors out to come out. See you there.