The Appearing of Christ
Exposing the rapture deception
Brian Kelson
Introduction
Paul wrote in his last letter, his second to
Timothy, that his ministry was being discarded;
2Ti
1:15 This you
know, that all those in Asia have turned away from me, of whom are
Phygellus and Hermogenes.
Asia included the Ephesians and the Colossians and
on the surface it might suggest that there was a massive turning away
from Christ. This is not the case. They had turned away from Paul the
apostle of the Gentiles, the one sent to them by Christ.
At the time of
writing, Paul would be aware of the persecutions against Christians,
particularly by Nero, and was more than likely to die in the same tide
of hate. Christians had not turned away from Christ, many were to die
for their faith in Him, but within a few centuries from the close of the
New Testament era, the church fathers were, for the most part, void of
Pauline doctrine. These dark ages for the Christian community lasted
nearly 900 years.
The reformation was
not the result of anyone reading the Gospels; the reformation came about
because Paul was rediscovered. Justification by faith without works
resurfaced and the power of the formalized church had diminished.
The literal return
of Christ was another doctrine which faded into obscurity and only
resurfaced in the years after the reformation. From about 1800 the
“rapture” concept took shape after someone had a "vision" and has become the flagship of most
eschatological thinking. This doctrine in all its variations must be
exposed for what it is, a masterstroke of deception.
The rapture theory
constantly holds Christians in a false state of heightened expectancy as
the faithful look for and pass yet another due by date proclaimed by yet
another zealous Christian individual or group who claim to have had some
“word of knowledge” or “prophecy” about it.
When Paul wrote to
the Colossians he said this:
Col 1:23 since indeed you* are
continuing in the faith, having been firmly established and steadfast,
and are not being shifted away from the hope [or, confident
expectation] of the Gospel which you* heard, the one having been
preached in all the creation under heaven, of which _I_, Paul, became a
servant.
ALT.
Paul’s confidence here is that the Colossian had
not been moved away from the hope of the gospel which was entrusted to
Him by Christ. The hope of Ephesians and Colossians is not the hope of
1Thess.4 and when the Christian community moved away from Paul in his
later ministry, they moved away from the hope for us today.
The "rapture" is not the appearing of Christ. There
is a huge difference in place and callings between these two events. The
"rapture" is in the air and clouds, the Appearing is in the heavenly
places. The "rapture" is for virgins (2Cor.11:2) who go to "meet" the
bridegroom, see Matt.25:1-6. In eastern marriage the bridegroom never
snatched the bride away from her home, He came to where she lived.
Please read 1Thess.4:13-18 and find one word or phrase
which even remotely suggests anyone, including our Lord, is returning
back into heaven. The believers of the Acts period were going to a
meeting of the Lord as He "descends from (away from) heaven with a
shout...". 1Thess.4 is an explanation as to how the Lord will "bring
with Him" (not take away) those who are dead and alive at the
fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets, a Jewish event.
The Appearing takes place in the heavenly places,
Col.3:1-4, far above the clouds and the air. Those who appear with Him
there are members of the calling which is His Body; masculine. No
trumpet blast, no voice of the arch angel or shout or clouds accompanies
this event. Test things differing, rightly divide the Word of Truth is
not an option for us believers.
My prayer is that this book will stimulate honest
thinking in the matter of the hope before the Church which is His Body
only found in the post Acts epistles of Paul.
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The Appearing of Christ - Exposing the rapture deception
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