Pre-Tribulation Rapture : John 17:15,20

In the year 2000 there came upon me an urgent desire to study the Thessalonians letters as concerns the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory, and this investigation opened my eyes to the fact that the apostle Paul was speaking only of ONE EVENT in both missives: the PAROUSIA (the return of the Lord Jesus at the end of the age to set up His kingdom, judge His enemies, and reward the faithful). The Lord Jesus is on his way back to earth, and Paul was describing the episodes surrounding and leading to that occasion, the PAROUSIA.

– efren de la cruz agbulos

Talking Points on the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory

***Thesis: There is no verse in the Bible that will or can
support the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory

1] Purposes of the Thessalonian missives:*

[1 Thessalonians] was written to give assurance to Christians at Thessalonica concerning the future of believers who die before the Lord Jesus returns (1 Thess. 4:13-18).

[2 Thessalonians] was written to dispel rumors (2 Thess. 2:1-2) that (1 Thess. ch. 4) has already occurred, because, according to Paul, (1 Thess. ch. 4) will not occur until the apostasy occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed (2 Thess. 2:1-4).

Definitely the Thessalonian missives are not in agreement with Pre-Tribulation Rapture advocates who erroneously claim that (1 Thess. ch. 4) will occur first before the revelation of the man of lawlessness.

Furthermore, every respectable Bible commentator prior to 1830, when the false Rapture Theory came out Scotland, treat both letters as describing the 2nd Coming, the PAROUSIA, of the Lord Jesus.

2] Absence of the doctrine in the Articles of Faith

Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory advocates don’t even have this doctrine mentioned in their Articles of Faith; what is declared, they must admit, is the Second Coming, the actual bodily return of the Lord Jesus to earth.

The challenge is simple: if they truly believe that the Lord Jesus would secretly come in the clouds for His church seven (7) years before His Second Coming, they must indicate it clearly in their Articles of Faith.

3] The theme of 1 & 2 Thessalonians

The theme of 1 & 2 Thessalonians is the PAROUSIA, or the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus, the Christ, at the end of this age to set up His kingdom, judge His enemies, and reward the faithful. The two missives give no indication that there will be a secret snatching away of the church seven (7) years before the PAROUSIA.

Paul was merely describing the events that will take place on the day the Lord Jesus returns to earth, as that of Jewish tradition wherein important personages are met and welcomed while they were still some distance from the host’s house; in the case of (1 Thess. 4:17) in the clouds.

We can also see this analogy in the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:20).

4] ACTS 3:21 argues against the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory

Whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:21)

If we would believe in the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory, we would also agree that the Lord Jesus has to leave heaven to go to the clouds, but the Bible is clear that the Lord Jesus will only leave heaven to restore all things, and that will only happen during His Second Coming at the End of the Age, not seven (7) years before the End of the Age.

5] PAROUSIA

PAROUSIA was used in the following verses, and all referring to the 2nd bodily coming of the Lord Jesus:

Matt. 24:3; 1 Cor. 15:23; 2 Cor. 7:7; Phil. 1:26; 1 Thess. 2:19; 2 Thess. 2:8,9; 2 Pet. 1:16; 2 Pet. 3:4; 1 Jn. 2:28; Matt. 24:27; Matt. 24:37; Matt. 24:39; 1 Cor. 16:17; 2 Cor. 7:6; 1 Thess. 3:13; 1 Thess. 4:15; 1 Thess. 5:23; 2 Thess. 2:1; Jas. 5:7; Jas. 5:8; 2 Cor. 10:10; Phil. 2:12; 2 Pet. 3:12

PAROUSIA: A transliteration of a Greek word that refers to the Second Coming, or the return of the Lord Jesus at the end of this age to set up His kingdom, judge His enemies, and reward the faithful. The Thessalonian letters are describing the PAROUSIA in finer detail.

6] The Parable of the Tares argues against the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory

(Matthew 13:24-30; Matthew 13:36-43)

From the time the Lord Jesus sowed the good seed, there will only be one harvesting, and that is at the end of the age, at the PAROUSIA.

7] The Prayer of the Lord Jesus argues against the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory

(John 17:15; John 17:20)

8] The Great Commission argues against the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory

(Matthew 28:20)

The church will remain on earth up to the End of the Age.

9] REVELATION 19:7 argues against the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory

The Wedding of the Lamb occurs not in (Revelation ch. 4) but in (Revelation ch. 19), much, much later than Pre-Tribulation Rapture advocates would like to admit.

10] NOT APPOINTED UNTO WRATH

(1 Thessalonians 5:9) is talking about the final judgment or eternal condemnation, and not the Tribulation Period, taking the clue to the meaning of this verse from what the
Thessalonian Christians, and all Christians for that matter, would receive at the return of the Lord Jesus, which is salvation or eternal life.

11] 1 Corinthians 15:51-52

argues against the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory, simply because ch. 15 of 1 Corinthians is all about the resurrection at the return of the Lord Jesus to earth, and the twinkling of an eye mentioned there describes the speed of change from the perishable into the imperishable, not the speed of an upward movement.

12] REVELATION 20:5-6 argues against the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory

The Bible speaks only of two (2) resurrections. If the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory is true, there would be three (3) resurrections, which is contrary to the Word of God.

13] The Restrainer

[2 Thessalonians 2:6; Daniel 10:13; Daniel 12:1; Revelation 9:2]

To the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory advocate, the restrainer of (2 Thess. 2:6] is the Holy Spirit; and according to them the Holy Spirit would be taken away to heaven in the church seven years prior to the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus.

If there be so absurd a statement in the history of Christianity, this holds first place.

To take away the Holy Spirit is to take away the Father and the Son likewise because they are God. God is indivisible. God is one. God is omnipresent.

To take away the Holy Spirit from one segment of the universe (earth) is to deprive that section of God and the power to hold together what has been created, and since the cosmos is one seamless piece of cloth, it would mean the disintegration of the entire universe. But if they argue that only the influence of the Holy Spirit is taken away or set aside, that would be veering away from the original language of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory; and without the influence of the Holy Ghost salvation would be impossible inside the Tribulation Period and there will be no understanding of Scriptures.

Who, then, is the restrainer? The restrainer is the archangel Michael (Daniel 12:1).

14] At the last day

(John 6:39; John 6:40; John 6:44; John 6:54)

Four times in the sixth chapter of the gospel according to John, the Lord Jesus reiterated that it was the Father God’s will that all those who looks to and believes in Him (the Lord Jesus) will be raised at the last day or the day of the Lord or the end of the age as that day is also referred to.

Now to believe in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory, which its advocates claim would occur seven years before the last day, would make the words of the Lord Jesus meaningless, if not deceptive. By any stretch of the imagination “all” means “all”; with no exception every believer who has fallen asleep in the Lord Jesus, from the inception of His earthly ministry up to the end of the age will be raised on that day, when He returns to earth to establish His kingdom, the day of the resurrection.

15] JOHN 14:1-4

points to the day of Resurrection, the Parousia, the day the Lord Jesus returns to earth. Every respectable Bible commentator points to this fact.

16] [JOHN 3:13; 2 KINGS 2:1; HEBREWS 11:5]

It was not possible for someone to have been taken into heaven until the Lord Jesus had died (since sin had not been totally taken away but just covered), and for sure not in bodily form, for heaven is a place for the spirit. Secondly, we have to understand “heaven” in the case of Elijah as “sky”.

17) (Heb. 9:28) argues against the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory

The main error of Pre-Tribulation Rapture advocates is in ascribing to their arguments verses that are hermeneutically and contextually assigned to the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus, the Parousia, or the return of the Lord Jesus at the end of this age to set up his kingdom, judge his enemies, and reward the faithful.

If (Heb. 9:28) actually is the Second Coming, it will take place at the End of the Age. Where, then, shall we place the Pre-Tribulation Rapture? Of course, seven (7) years prior to the Second Coming; but the problem is that the Pre-Tribulation Rapture theory assigns to itself what (Heb. 9:28) declares will occur at the End of the Age. Granting, for the sake of argument, that the Lord Jesus would “bring salvation to those who are waiting for him” during the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, what is left to transpire at the Second Coming which (Heb. 9:28) describes?

There will only be two (2) appearances of the Lord Jesus.

What the Pre-Tribulation Rapture advocates have done was to rob the Second Coming at the End of the Age of its substance and meaning and placed them upon their heretical teaching.

18] [1 John 2:28] (The apostle John argues against the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory)

John was looking forward to the PAROUSIA or the Second Coming, the return of the Lord Jesus at the end of this age to set up his kingdom, judge his enemies, and reward the faithful.

In the same way, the apostle Paul was describing the PAROUSIA in his Thessalonian missives, which makes them in total agreement as to the timeline of the Lord’s appearing, for it would have been an absurdity on the part of John to encourage believers to persevere until the PAROUSIA if there would occur an intervening Pre-Tribulation Rapture seven (7) years prior to the Second Coming.

Was John wrong in not mentioning a Pre-Tribulation Rapture, and instead look forward to the PAROUSIA only? Of course not! John and Paul were both looking forward to the Second Coming alone.

19) Revelation 22:7

(Rev. 22:7) argues against the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory**

If the church had been taken away and the Holy Spirit taken away as well as early as (Rev. ch. 4), to whom was the Lord Jesus speaking at this point (22:7)?

keepeth: (tereo) to attend to carefully, take care of, to guard (from loss or injury)

If we are to believe the Pre-Tribulation Rapture advocates, the Lord Jesus would not be speaking to Christians as this juncture, because they are no longer on earth, so what is written beyond (Rev. ch. 4) should not concern them; and obviously not to those left behind because without the Holy Spirit there would be no salvation and no understanding of the Bible because the Word of God is spiritually understood.

This instruction by the Lord Jesus to “guard” the entirety of the revelation contained in this book was addressed to his servants/Christians (1:1) as its custodian, to be a source of encouragement to those who would be witnesses to these events; to make use of the prophecy revealed in advance to the people of God to comfort them during days of darkness, trial, and persecution.

The book of Revelation is a divine communication from God to his servants from chapter 1 to chapter 22. The church would witness the unfolding of the prophecy contained in this book to its completeness; and it was written for her comfort and encouragement as she endures to the end.

20) 1 Thessalonians 4:15

Adam Clarke (Adam Clarke Commentary, published 1810-1826) argues against the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory

Was the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory a prevalent and accepted teaching prior to 1830?

In consideration of the Commentary and Critical Notes by Adam Clarke which was completed in 1826, I beg to contend to the contrary. Clarke, in his notes on (1 Thess. 4:15) saw the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus, that “We may suppose that the judgment will now be set, and the books opened, and the dead judged out of the things written in those books.”

How in the world did a Bible commentator of Clarke’s caliber and scholarship fail to mention a Pre-Tribulation Rapture event in conjunction with (1 Thess. 4:13-18)? The answer is simple: he did not fail, because prior to 1830, when the false Pre-Tribulation Rapture Doctrine came out of Scotland, it was unknown among the churches and in Christian literature.

Clarke was justified in interpreting (1 Thess. 4:13-18) as the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus, and not a snatching away of the church seven years prior to the Second Coming.

21) 1 Thessalonians 4:15

(1 Thess. 4:15) argues against the Pre-Tribulation Rapture theory

A sound hermeneutical investigation of (1 Thess. 4:15) will lead an earnest student of Scriptures to the conclusion that Paul was pointing to the PAROUSIA or the Second Coming, the return of the Lord Jesus at the end of this age to set up his kingdom, judge his enemies, and reward the faithful, in this particular missive as in the follow-up letter (2 Thess.); a simple word study would have made that clear.

In inferring that there would be two phases to the Second Coming and that the Lord Jesus would be returning to heaven with the church after (v.17), Pre-Tribulation Rapture advocates have grossly erred by reading into the verses (eisegesis) what the passages don’t prescribe.

Nowhere in both Thessalonian letters was there an indication of a two-part PAROUSIA or the Lord Jesus returning to heaven after the events described in (1 Thess. 4:13-18). In fact, the word “meet” in (v. 17), “apantesis” in Greek, is used in the papyri of a newly arriving magistrate (Vine's Expository Dictionary), and “It seems that the special idea of the word was the official welcome of a newly arrived dignitary” (Moulton, Greek Test. Gram. Vol. I, p. 14). Judging by the meaning of the word and the context of (1 Thess. 4:13-18) the Lord Jesus is the dignitary whom the church would welcome while still in the clouds as he was on his way down to earth.

Simply put, the Thessalonian letters speak of one event only, the PAROUSIA, the Second Coming. Period

[Efren DLC Agbulos, 2000]

Pre-Tribulation Rapture

Sunday, August 3, 2014

John 17:15,20

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