Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘First Epistle to the Thessalonians’

THE EARLY CHURCH AND THE RAPTURE

Posted in Articles, BIBLE, English Posts, tagged , , , , , , , , , on July 29, 2013| 1 Comment »

 

558472_695787850447228_1551457601_n

rapture

rapture (Photo credit: ChuckHolton)

The Early Church And The Rapture

http://gracethrufaith.com/

Q. We are studying Revelation in the home study
at my house, and I know I am going to butt heads with the leader over the Rapture. He is convinced of a “mid trib” Rapture, because he doesn’t believe we would be taken out of the world to escape persecution, which is all he sees in the first half, not the wrath of God.

He has also cited that tired “fact” that no church father ever taught or believed in a rapture. I know there is not a huge amount written about it, but I do know there are some who believed it. Would you givean example please?534352_125603257575371_100003770935740_117468_1946230387_n

A.  The mid- trib view is impossible to defend from
Scripture, which is probably why your friend relies on opinion.  It’s very name is misleading because the mid trib position actually placesthe rapture in the middle of Daniel’s 70th week, just before the Great Tribulation begins. So it’s technically a pre-tribulation rapture.

Since the Great Tribulation begins in Rev.13,mid-tribbers have the Church going through the seals and 6 of the 7trumpet judgments, leaving earth at about the time of the 7th Trumpet in
Rev. 11.  By then over 1/3 of the world’s population will have died and a group of tribulation martyrs too big to number will have arrived in Heaven (Rev. 7:9-17). That’s a bit more intense than “mere” persecution.

Paul was the best known proponent of the pre-trib rapture, having personally introduced it to the Church.  If you read the text carefully, you’ll find that 2 Thessalonians 2 doesn’t make sense unless Paul had taught them the pre-trib position when he was there.

The Book of Revelation clearly states that God’s wrath begins in Rev. 6 with the Seal Judgments.   Paul taught that since we have now been justified by the Lord’s blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him (Romans 5:9).  In 1 Thes. 1:10 he said that the church would be rescued from the time, place, or any relation to the coming wrath, because we weren’t appointed to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thes 5:9).  And the Lord Himself said that He would keep us out of the hour of trial coming upon the whole world (Rev. 3:10).

67026_418981111532178_1206948828_n

 

Related Posts:

This entry was posted

on Sunday, July 28th, 2013 at 5:00 pm and is filed under Ask a Bible Teacher.


http://gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher/the-early-church-and-the-rapture/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Gracethrufaith+%28GraceThruFaith%29&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail

 

Read Full Post »

CHRISTIAN LIFE IS A JOURNEY

Posted in Articles, BIBLE, English Posts, GOSPEL, MISSIONS, UNITY OF DISCIPLES, tagged , , , , , , , on January 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Christian Life is a Journey

304610_417158081654442_395163140_n

journey2

“He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).

Do you sometimes feel as though you are not making any progress in your spiritual life?  The life of a Christian is a journey.  We have a supernatural, proficient guide and map in the Spirit-inspired Scriptures, but we face distinct temptations and trials.  We know we have been saved by faith in Christ and have heaven as our sure destination, but the intervening pilgrimage is unique.  We need God’s help.

68488_10151151034482903_1524150710_n

I do not know where you are on your personal journey.  Perhaps you are exhausted and spent.  Maybe you have recently experienced significant growth, or you may have settled on a comfortable plateau because of an uncertain future.  But I do know this: God wants you and me to enjoy and complete the journey.  He has pledged Himself to finish the good work He began in us at salvation and will keep us strong until the end.

As with the Philippians, God will help us grow in grace until He has completed His work in our lives.  The God who began a good work in us continues it throughout our lifetime and will finish it when we meet Him face to face.  God’s work for us began when Christ died on the cross in our place.  His work in us began when we first believed.  Now the Holy Spirit lives in us, enabling us to be more like Christ every day.

Great confidence gripped the apostle as he thought and prayed for the body of Christ.  Paul guaranteed the believers that God would consider them “blameless” when Christ returns (1 Corinthians 1:8-9).  This guarantee was not because of their great gifts or shining performance, but because of what Jesus Christ accomplished in them through His death and resurrection.  It was God’s work, not theirs, so Paul had no question about the outcome.  All who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ will be considered blameless when Jesus returns (1 Thessalonians 3:13; Hebrews 9:28).  If you have faith in Christ, even if it is weak, you are and will be saved.  All believers are justified by God’s grace and stand before Him “blameless” (“free from accusation”).

If you are feeling discouraged, remember God won’t give up on you.  If you are feeling incomplete, unfinished, or distressed by your shortcomings, remember God’s promise and provision.  Don’t let your present condition rob you of the joy of knowing Christ or keep you from growing closer to Him.  God will most certainly continue on to completion the good work He began in us!

Posted on January 4, 2013 by

28710516344003243_F7lKYOuR_c

Reposted from http://joequatronejr.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/christian-life-is-a-journey/#comment-4340

17016_386710798072071_855532611_n

Related articles

Read Full Post »

GOT QUESTION?ORG-QUESTION OF THE WEEK-“What does it mean to grieve / quench the Holy Spirit?

Posted in Articles, BIBLIA, English Posts, MISIUNE, UNITY OF DISCIPLES, tagged , , , , , , on September 28, 2012| 1 Comment »

Question: “What does it mean to grieve / quench the Holy Spirit?”

Answer: When the word “quench” is used in Scripture, it is speaking of suppressing fire. When believers put on the shield of faith, as part of their armor of God (Ephesians 6:16), they are extinguishing the power of the fiery darts from Satan. Christ described hell as a place where the fire would not be “quenched” (Mark 9:44, 46, 48). Likewise, the Holy Spirit is a fire dwelling in each believer. He wants to express Himself in our actions and attitudes. When believers do not allow the Spirit to be seen in our actions, when we do what we know is wrong, we suppress or quench the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19). We do not allow the Spirit to reveal Himself the way that He wants to.
To understand what it means to grieve the Spirit, we must first understand that this indicates the Spirit possesses personality.Only a person can be grieved; therefore, the Spirit must be a divine person in order to have this emotion. Once we understand this, we can better understand how He is grieved, mainly because we too are grieved. Ephesians 4:30 tells us that we should not grieve the Spirit. We grieve the Spirit by living like the pagans (4:17-19), by lying (4:25), by being angry (4:26-27), by stealing (4:28), by cursing (4:29), by being bitter (4:31), by being unforgiving (4:32), and by being sexually immoral (5:3-5). To grieve the Spirit is to act out in a sinful manner, whether it is in thought only or in both thought and deed.

Both quenching and grieving the Spirit are similar in their effects. Both hinder a godly lifestyle. Both happen when a believer sins against God and follows his or her own worldly desires. The only correct road to follow is the road that leads the believer closer to God and purity, and farther away from the world and sin. Just as we do not like to be grieved, and just as we do not seek to quench what is good—so we should not grieve or quench the Holy Spirit by refusing to follow His leading.

Recommended Resource:The Wonderful Spirit-Filled Life by Charles Stanley.

What’s new on GotQuestions.org?

How can I overcome resistance to change?

What does the Bible say about perfectionism?

Why was Jonah angry that the Ninevites repented (Jonah 4:1-2)?

Why did Jonah try to go to Tarshish instead of Nineveh?

Did Jonah die while he was in the belly of the fish (Jonah 2)?

Why is it important to spend time alone with God?

How can we learn to trust God like the prophet Habakkuk (Habakkuk 3:17-19)?

What does it mean that the righteous will live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4)?

What does the Bible say about second chances?

What does it mean that the wages of sin is death?

Bible Questions Answered by GotQuestions.org

With over 3,000 answers to frequently asked Bible questions published online, approximately 75% of the questions we are asked already have answers available to you instantly. We offer several options for finding the answers to your questions.

You can search our site, which does a search of all of our articles based on the search terms you enter.

You can browse our Top 20 most common Bible questions and Top 20 most visited articles, which together account for around 15% of the questions we are asked.

You can look through our Frequently Asked Questions Archives, which divides questions and answers based on Biblical categories.

You can examine our What’s New section to find out what articles have recently been added to the site.

If you are unable to find your answer online, you can ask us your Bible question on our Bible Questions Answered page.

Our FAQ Archive is divided into biblical categories to help you find the answers to your Bible questions.

God (1)(2) – Jesus Christ (1)(2) – Holy Spirit – Salvation – The Bible (1)(2) – Church (1)(2)

End Times – Angels – Humanity – Theology – Apologetics and Worldview

Christian Life (1)(2) – Prayer – Sin – Eternity – Marriage

Relationships – Family – Creation – Christianity – Cults and Religions (1)(2)

False Doctrine – Life Decisions – Topical (1)(2) – Miscellaneous (1)(2)

Old Testament Survey – New Testament Survey

Questions about the Books of the Bible

Catholic Questions – Muslim Questions

 

Read Full Post »

DAYS OF PRAISE -TOGETHER IN CHRIST- Institute for Creation Research

Posted in Articles, BIBLE, English Posts, UNITY OF DISCIPLES, tagged , , , , , , , on July 24, 2012| 1 Comment »

Together in Christ

 “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20)

 This is a wonderful promise. Whether believers come together in church or a home Bible study or even just two together (like husband and wife) to fellowship around the name of the Lord Jesus, He is there also!

 The Scriptures often speak of our togetherness with Him and therefore with one another. When we followed Him in baptism, we were “planted together in the likeness of his death” (Romans 6:5). Similarly, when He rose from the dead, God “hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:5-6). One day, we are told, “if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together” (Romans 8:17).

 In our Christian walk right now, we are being “fitly framed together” as a “holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:21-22). We ought, therefore, to be “knit together in love” (Colossians 2:2), “perfectly joined together in the same mind” (1 Corinthians 1:10), and “striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27).

 Then one day, when Christ returns and the dead in Christ are raised, “we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

 So, when we are together with Him, through the indwelling Spirit of Christ, whether in a congregation of thousands, or just together with one or two Christian companions, we rejoice in His presence, for He is our mighty Creator, our loving Savior, our caring Comforter, our unerring Guide, and our soon-coming King.

by Henry Morris, Ph.D.

HMM July 20, 2012

Institute for Creation Research| 1806 Royal Lane | Dallas | TX | 75229

  Powered by phplist.

www.icr.org

Read Full Post »

THE EARLY CHURCH AND THE RAPTURE

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on March 21, 2012| 1 Comment »

 The Early Church And The Rapture

 

 Q. We are studying Revelation in the home study at my house, and I know I am going to butt heads with the leader over the Rapture. He is convinced of a “mid trib” Rapture, because he doesn’t believe we would be taken out of the world to escape persecution, which is all he sees in the first half, not the wrath of God.

He has also cited that tired fact that no church father ever taught or believed in a rapture. I know there is not a huge amount that wrote about it, but I do know there are some. Would you site those who did, please?

 

A. Of the major rapture positions, the mid- trib view is the most difficult to defend. It’s very name is misleading because the mid trib position actually places the rapture in the middle of Daniel’s 70th week, just before the Great Tribulation begins. So it’s technically a pre-trib rapture. Since the great Tribulation begins in Rev.13, mid-tribbers have the church going through the seals and 6 of the 7 trumpet judgments, leaving earth at about the time of the 7th Trumpet in Rev. 11. By then 1/2 of the world’s population will have died and a group of tribulation martyrs too big to number will have arrived in Heaven. That’s a bit more intense than “mere” persecution.

 

A number of early teachers taught the pre-trib view, most notably Paul. If you read it carefully, you’ll find that the 2nd Letter to the Thessalonians doesn’t make sense unless Paul had taught them the pre-Trib position. Whether people like it or not, the book of Revelation clearly states that God’s wrath begins in Rev. 6 with the Seal Judgments and Paul taught that the church would be removed from the time, place, or any relation to His wrath.(1 Thes. 1:10) Here are some a links to articles on the Pre-Trib Rapture in the early church.

 

http://www.grantjeffrey.com/article/why_some_reject.htm

 

http://www.rapturealert.com/pretribnewidea.html

 

 

Related Posts:

 

Related articles

Read Full Post »

%d bloggers like this: