Select from over 500 Premium Anglo-Israel Identity Books from S.T.M. (click here)

To Deceive The Elect - The Rapture Fact or Fiction?
Part 2 of 2
by
Col. Gordon (Jack) Mohr, AUS Ret.

THE RESTRAINER

There is wide-spread disagreement as to who this "restrainer" really is. Most pre-tribs believe this to be the Holy Spirit. (I first noticed this when I saw that the "he" was not capitalized, as it should have been if it referred to the Holy Spirit.) They assume that He was removed from this earth before the Tribulation, at least partially, as the one who indwells believers, and because He has left, so the believers MUST be gone also.

But if the Holy Spirit "indwelling" is missing during the Tribulation, then it seems to me as though the Tribulation saints would be retreating to the "weak and beggardly elements," the Apostle Paul condemns as "legalism," in Gal. 4:9. Does it seem possible that 144,000 Jewish evangelists could do a better job of evangelizing the world in seven years, without the aid of the Holy Spirit, than the ecclesia had been able to do in 2,000 years? Doesn't make much sense, now does it?

If the Tribulation Saints are indwelt with the Holy Spirit, as they must be in order to be saved, then why does He not act as a restrainer during the Tribulation Period? I believe this - disproves the Rapturist theory that the antichrist cannot appear while the "indwelt" church is here on earth. Ask your pastor to show you the Greek words in 2 Thess. 2:7, which are translated "Holy Spirit." He can't!

What we have in this teaching, is a deliberate separation of the Rapture from the Second Coming of Christ. While all passages in the Bible dealing with the Second Coming are in harmony with each other, they are not exactly the same. But they never cancel each other out.

In 1 Thess. 4:17, nothing is said about where Christians are supposed to go after they meet the Lord in the air. In Zech. 14:4, where Jesus stands on the Mount of Olives, you find nothing saying that the saints have been in heaven with Him. This argument of silence can be effectively used to prove that the Rapture does not take place at the Second Coming. There is no "battle and bloodshed," mentioned in 1 Thess. 4 and this passage also omits speaking about our bodies being changed, with mortal putting on immortality, as seen in 1 Cor. 15:51-53. Just because the wording of these two Scriptures is different, does not mean they are speaking about different events.

Rapturists will try and tell you that Christ in Matthew 24, was speaking of His Second Coming, while in 1 Thess., Paul was discussing the Rapture. But Christ and the Apostle Paul taught the same thing, a single, Post-Tribulational, Second Coming, which had none of the aspects taught by the Rapturists.

If Paul were living today, he might very well write his warning to the "ecclessia" at Corinth, to the present day Rapture preachers: "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety (trickery), so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." If the Pre-Tribulation is such a big event in the lives of Christians, why did Jesus never mention it in the Gospels?

The Rapture people have developed an unusual ability to use both "inductive" and "deductive" reasoning to support their view.

"Deductive reasoning," is a logical thought process where by one comes to a conclusion based on a set of remises." Such as "Since all men are apes; this is a man; therefore, he must be an ape.

"Inductive reasoning" is a logical thought process in which a conclusion is proposed, that contains more information than that which can be obtained through observation and experience. An example: "Since every crow ever seen has been black; therefore all crows must be black."

Using these thought processes, the Rapturists say that because the word "church," cannot be found after Chapter Four in the Book of Revelation, they deduce, or conclude that the church must have left this world (hence a rapture). It is interesting to note, however, that nowhere in the New Testament is the Greek word for church used, instead it uses the Greek work "ecclessia," which literally means "an assembly of called out ones."

If you look closely at such scriptures as Eph. 4:11, 12; 5:27, you will find that in very clear terms, "saints, body of Christ, and the church," are one and the same people. These are synonymous terms.

Saints are mentioned at least 13 times in Revelation, after Chapter 4 and are on this earth in all incidents. In Rev. 13:10, we read about "the patience and faith of the saints." In 17:6, we see where the "whore of the Babylonian world system," is "drunk with the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus." So they must have been on this earth in order to have been martyred. She could not have reached them if they had been in heaven.

In 20:9, we are told that Gog and Magog "went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed (surrounded) the camp of the saints," under no conditions was this speaking about the antichrist Jews. These are Israelite Christians who are being besieged.

Now you may get some "kickback" from some Rapturists who will say that these saints mentioned, are the 144,000 Jewish evangelists. But if you want to be real technical about it, only the Tribe of Judah, could even remotely be called JEWS, since all the others are Israelites.

In addition, Rev. 7:13,14 clearly states that the saints are in great tribulation, and have come out of this tribulation with their garments "washed white in the blood of the lamb."

The Rapturists make much of the "mark of the Beast - 666." Yet they would have to be on earth at the same time as the anti-Christ, if they had to make a decision for or against him. Maybe this is one of the major reasons they want a Rapture, so that they will not have to make this hard and often fatal decision.

Brother Speed Wilson puts it mighty clear, when he said: "The tribulation saints are OVERCOMERS, NOT COPPER-OUTERS!" The word RAPTURE has the exact opposite meaning of OVERCOMING, for it is essentially the attitude of the "escapists," rather than the victorious attitude of a Christian soldier.

They also love 1 Thess. 5:9, which is a beautiful verse which tells us that "God did not appoint us (Christians) to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." It is interesting to note that the definition of the word "obtain," means: "to get possession of; to prevail; to be victorious. When you are "victorious," it means you have won a victory over the enemy, and no soldier ever won a victory, by hiding in a foxhole, praying for his king to come and rescue him from the trouble which was caused by his apathy and neglect.
We have already discussed some of the promises God gave to His saints, which will see them through this time of adversity, not by "escaping" (a rapture), but by OVERCOMING.

Some promote the Rapture belief by quoting Luke 21:36 "... pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and stand before the Son of man." I believe the "key" word in this verse is WORTHY, which comes from the Greek word "Axios," and literally means: "deserving."

If you will carefully read the first few chapters of Revelation, you will see that it is only the OVERCOMERS who are worthy to be "clothed in white raiment." Only the OVER-COMERS who will "rule and reign" with the king

Somehow or other, I think the King James Version is "off the mark," a bit in its use of the English phrase "be accounted worthy of ESCAPE." I like what the New Jerusalem Bible says better. It puts it this way: "Stay awake! praying at all times for the strength to survive all that is going to happen and stand with confidence before the Son of Man." How in the world will a Christian be able to do this, if he spends most of his time looking for a means whereby he can escape the unpleasant things which are coming to this country, due mostly to Christian apathy

The Rapturists often use Enoch and Elijah as examples of a Rapture. But Jesus didn't say: "As it was in. the time of Enoch, or Elijah." He said: "As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be when I return."

While Scofield taught that the "restrainer" of 2 Thessalonians 2 was the Holy Spirit, a great Bible scholar named Oswald Smith once said: "There is no mention of the Holy Spirit in this verse. That is a Scofield Bible assumption. The Holy Spirit and the church remain in the world until the end of the age."

Jesus Himself predicted that the "wheat and the tares," would grow together to maturity and that one of His first acts on His return, would be to get rid of the tares.

Our Baptist friend from Washington, said in his letter that all the great church leaders believed in and taught the Rapture, but that just isn't so. I wonder where he studied his church history. Any honest study of church history, will show you that this doctrine did not show up in the modern church, until about 1830 Luther, and Calvin, and Wesley never taught it, and the early Baptist church in America did not teach it.
 
 

WHERE THEN DID IT BEGIN?

Two of the best books on this were written by my friend Dave MacPherson. THE INCREDIBLE COVERUP, and THE GREAT RAPTURE HOAX. Dave can be reached at P.O. Box 44, Monticello, UT 84535.

One of the greatest obstacles to acceptance of the truth revealed in this message, will be the tendency of some readers to become hostile at what they think are unfair criticisms of those they consider to be great Christian leaders, churchmen, of course, who have taught the Rapture theory. There is no doubt in my mind, as I look back on it, that some of the seminary professors I knew, were dedicated to the cause of Christ, yet they allowed denominational teaching to overshadow the truth of the Word.

Anyone would be foolish to hire a butcher to build a house, or a car mechanic to repair an expensive watch. Why then are Christians upset, when someone points out that men like Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart, Jack Van Impe, or Billy Graham, as examples, have proven themselves to be "theological duds," when it came to the prophetic department.

Jerry Falwell once told me: "Brother Jack, the reason God has been good to America, is because we have supported the Jews." But when I pointed out the truth, that America had gone "downhill" in every area - militarily, economically, politically, educationally, and spiritually, faster than any time in our history, since we recognized those "who say they are Jews, and are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan," (Rev. 2:9; 3:9), are recognized their right to the land of Palestine. When I pointed out these truths, Jerry got angry and walked off with his feelings hurt.

Instead of sitting in some church, or before a TV screen, with your mouth agape and your eyes popping, as some prophetic evangelist pontificates about when the Lord will return, or when the battle of Armageddon will be fought, or how the Lord will come in the Rapture before 1992, why don't you take your Bible, and a Strong's Concordance, and sit down at home and find out for yourself what the Word says. You don't need some pastor, who has been "brainwashed" in the seminary to tell you what it says. Think for yourself for a change. I know it means a bit more work, and its easier to listen to the preacher, but you will get a lot more out of it if you discover it for yourself. I can tell you from long experience in the evangelistic field, that in nine cases out of ten, your pastor will tell you what the seminarian told him.

Certainly fundamentalists and rapturists are saved if they really believe and are "bringing forth the fruits of repentance." But when they drift into a life "at ease in Zion," because some preacher told them not to worry what the communists do since they are going to escape through a rapture, then there is a lot of repair work to be done.

While seeking the lost and leading them to Christ is of first importance, remember it is only the first step in the salvation process. For once you reach this plane, then you are in a position where your responsibility to God and your fellowman has increased 1000 fold. These same brethren you lead to Christ need nurturing and you can't expect them to gain spiritual maturity, on the "sour milk mush" put out by the raptured crowd, who tell them: "Don't worry, if you are saved, God will take care of everything." My youngest son, who has become involved with a charismatic church, tells me: "Dad, you have lost your faith. All that is necessary is to have faith and God will take care of everything." If this is true, then why does a Christian soldier need to put on the armour of Ephesians 6. You don't put on armor to eat, or to go to bed, or to sit in a foxhole. Armour is put on before a fight, and whether you realize it or not, Christians are in a fight to the death, against the very forces of hell.

The brand of Christianity that says: "Leave everything to God, is about as anemic as anything I can think of and is a long, long way from being an OVERCOMER."

I think this reasoning, is why the average Christian is not worth a hill of beans, as far as the Kingdom of Heaven is concerned We have become a "twinky-marshmallow" type of people, instead of the rugged Christians our forefathers were, and weak Christians are always reflected in a weak church that is headed towards the disaster of the church of Laodicea (see Rev. 3:15-17). God said to them, and He says the same thing to modern Christians: "...I know thy works, that thou are neither cold nor hot; I would that thou wert cold or hot. So then (because of this) because thou art neither cold nor hot, I will spew (spit out in disgust) thee out of my mouth."

Then He gives an explanation of why the church has reached this pitiful states (vs. 17) "Because thou sayest I am rich, (we had the most baptisms last year; we had the biggest church building program; we had the biggest attendance growth; we had the best givings per parishioner,) and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Many of our modern churches are like that. They literally clutter up the landscape of America, in town, city and the countryside. They often meet in impressive multi-million dollar edifices, with stained glass windows and organs that cost into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Their choirs are clothed in the richest raiment, they sit in conditioned comfort, on comfortable plush seats, but spiritually, they are like the Laodicean church and are "wretched, poor, blind, and naked," in the sight of God, because they preach a "man pleasing Gospel," instead of the "whole counsel of God's Word."

In Jeremiah 23:22, God tells Israel, that if their pastors will preach God's truth, then His people would turn from their wicked ways. There has been no turning in America, which indicates to me that the pastors have not been preaching the truth. The Rapture Doctrine is one area in which they have fallen astray.

Some of you may be inclined to say: "Brother Mohr, how can you make such a terrible statement?" And I MUST refer you back again to Jeremiah 23:22.

Could it be possible that many of our pastors have become the shepherds spoken of in Isaiah 56:10,11? "His (Israeli America's) watchmen (pastors) are blind; they are all ignorant (mistaken in their teachings), they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark: (a watchdog who refuses to bark, or who cannot bark when danger approaches, is worse than useless) lying down, loving to slumber, greedy (covetous) dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand ("ever learning, but never able to come to an understanding of the truth," is how the Apostle Paul puts it in 2 Tim. 3:7), they all look to their own way ("doing their own thing,") everyone for his gain .

What a terrible indictment against the pastors of Christendom, but evidently true, the facts speak for themselves, for the people of America have not turned from their evil ways, to seek the Lord, and even professing Christians are more interested in "doing their own thing," than they are obeying God.

Will it be necessary for white Christian Americans, who have always been the "backbone of this nation," to be "knocked to their knees, and have their noses rubbed in the dirt," before they will "listen to God, obey and be saved, both spiritually and physically?" It will not come through politics, nor through a spiritual abortion such as the Rapture.

If our preachers of prophecy were to preach the truth, rather than a message that will "tickle the ears and titillate" their congregations, then we would see some changes in the lives of Christians, and thereby America.

It may come as a shock to those of you who have been taught the Rapture theory, that this teaching did not come from the Bible, and was never taught in the early Christian church. It was initiated by God's enemies, for the purpose of neutralizing the church. If the Rapturists would approach the Bible with a mind open to the truth, they would not be led astray by this false teaching, which began with two Spanish Roman Catholic Jesuit priests named Alcazar and Ribera.

To listen to the expositions of the present day Rapturists, one would never realize that a Bible expositor who taught the Rapture theory, never existed earlier than J. N. Darby, and to tell them the truth about this, makes them your enemy.

It is a known fact, that prior to 1830, no Christian church or fellowship had ever proclaimed a Rapture Doctrine. Before 1830, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 was accepted as a scripture which concerned the resurrection.

In Dave MacPhearson's book, he quotes men such as St. Augustine (354-430 A.D.) - "But he who reads this passage (Daniel 12) even half asleep, cannot fail to see that the kingdom of the antichrist shall fiercely, though for a short time, assail the church. (THE CITY OF GOD, XX, p.23).

MARTIN LUTHER (1483-1546) said: "The Book of Revelation is intended as a revelation of things that are to happen, and especially of the tribulations and disasters for the church." (WORKS OF MARTIN LUTHER, VI, p.480).

GEORGE MUELLER (1805-1898) - "The scripture declares plainly that the Lord Jesus will not come until the apostasy shall have taken place." (MISSION TOURS AND LABORS, p.148).

DWIGHT L. MOODY - "There is not a passage in the New Testament to support Scofield. The call of John to 'come up hither,' has reference to mystical ecstasy, not a pre-tribulation rapture." (SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD, p.203).

C. S. LOVETTE - "I no longer teach that Christians will not have to go through the tribulation."

Yet our Baptist friend from Washington State, declares unabashedly that "all past true evangelists and fundamentalist pastors, teachers, and missionaries believe that Jesus will return before the final tribulation begins."

Where in the world did this man study his religious history, or is he making it up as he goes along?

As far as I have been able to determine, the Rapture Doctrine began in the mind of a Spanish Roman Catholic Jesuit priest named Lacunza, who began to write a book under the name of Rabbi Ben Ezra, who was supposed to have been a learned Jew who had converted to Christianity, and who was trying to convert his Jewish brethren.

It is interesting to note, that "Futurist" writers often quote from this "bogus" Jew, thinking he was a Christian. That is exactly what Lacunza had in mind and with typical Jesuit cleverness and deceit, he deliberately set out to lead Protestant Christians astray.

At this time, Protestants were teaching that the Pope of Rome was the antichrist and this priest set out to turn their minds from this idea, by stating that all of the Book of Revelation was to be fulfilled at some future date. Even the opening prayer in his book was for the purpose of deception. In this, Ben Ezra pleads with God to use his book for the enlightenment of his Jewish brethren. But a study of Lacunza's book will show you that it was written to lead Protestant clergy astray, by getting them to dabble in the unscriptural theory of a future antichrist. His book was printed in two small volumes, but at his mysterious death in 1801, it dropped from sight, with the exception of a small volume which was printed in 1812.

Using typical Jesuit cunning, this book was put on the "prohibited list" by the Spanish Inquisition and immediately became sought after in Protestant circles. I can see how this would have happened, since I have had a similar experience.

All of my writings are forbidden in Canada, as being "anti-Semitic, hate literature," and since they were placed on the forbidden list, my sales in Canada have increased.

In 1816, a complete edition of Lacunza's book was published in London in four volumes and this book ended up in the library of the Angelican church, which was the heart of British Protestantism. The enemy had drilled a hole in the foundation of the Reformation Movement in England, had laid the fuse, and was set for the blast that would blow Reformed Christianity to bits. It took a little over ten years before the explosion occurred.

In 1826, ten yeas after Lacunza's work was published, a Dr. Maitland, librarian to the Archbishop of Canterbury, startled the Protestant world with a series of articles on prophesy, in which he taught the philosophy that had been expounded and taught by the Jesuit. This was that the book of Revelation referred only to the future, and would be fulfilled in a short period of time at the return of Christ. He taught that this return would be in two phases, the first secret, when He would gather His saved people from the earth, both the living and the dead, and take them to heaven in an event Maitland called the RAPTURE. The second phase would be when Christ returned seven years later, after the Tribulation, with these same saints, to set up His millennial rule on earth.

This is the same type of teaching our Baptist brother in Washington State is promoting, and which he wrote in his letter, when he said: "This means that Jesus Christ will come to take us off this planet (rapture) any time now. Then we shall return (all 50-million of the estimated American Christians), after about seven years with Jesus Christ, back to earth, to rule the earth for a thousand years." (UNQ.)

I wonder whether this brother realizes that he is teaching the doctrine of the enemy?

Those of us who can remember the past fifty or sixty years of world history, will remember, I'm sure, that many men have been looked on as being the antichrist by prophetic preachers. FDR was one; Mussolini was another; then of course Adolf Hitler and Joe Stalin; then President Johnson, and Henry Kissinger, and of course always the Pope. Somewhere in the lives of all these men, were some incidents, which led the prophetic preachers to 666, and the "Mark of the Beast," of Rev. 13:18.

Could it be that Fundamental Christianity has been looking for a man, whom they say will be a Jew, to be the antichrist, when he has been in their religious house for many years? Could this idea, harnessed to that of the RAPTURE before the antichrist appears, be one of the causes of the general apathy which has afflicted the Christian church?

The task of translating the wonderful works of Rabbi Ben Ezra, was undertaken by a brilliant, but rather eccentric young Scottish Presbyterian minister named Edward Irving; he was the founder of a sect called the "Irvingites," who are now known as the CATHOLIC APOSTOLIC CHURCH. (Their beliefs are among the most peculiar in the Christian world.)

Irving knew about the Jesuit basis for the works of Ben Ezra, and knew enough about the morality of Jesuits, that he should have been aware he was committing spiritual suicide. But he went ahead with his work nevertheless, without warning his readers that the writing was "bogus."

Some church historians trace the origin of the modern Rapture Doctrine to a vision received by a Scottish lassie named Margaret MacDonald, of Port Glasgow, Scotland, early in 1830. (See Dave Mcpherson's documentation in his book THE INCREDIBLE COVERUP).

Others say that Irving said he had heard a voice from heaven, commanding him to preach the Secret Rapture of the Saints. So, obeying this voice (?) he began to preach that Christ would come back twice, with absolutely no scriptural backing for this premise, only going by what the "voice" had told him.

While Irving is supposed to have been the first prophetic preacher to have promoted this theory, 250 years earlier, this idea was hatched in the counsels of Rome, and was promoted later by the Jesuit priests Lacunza, and Ribera.

When Irving began to obey the "voice," a vertable deluge of "spiritual manifestations," descended on his deluded congregation, as is often the case, when men are led by their feelings, rather than by the Word of God. His congregation went from one fanatical extreme to another, until what had once been a Scottish Presbyterian church, formally asked to be admitted into the Church of Rome.

It is very probable that this teaching would not have had much effect on America Protestantism, if it had not been promoted by the profligate C. I. Scofield, and included in the footnotes of his popular Scofield Reference Bible. These footnotes, too many Baptists, hold almost the same place of honor as that of Holy Writ.

Using Scofield's footnotes, the fundamentalists began teaching in their seminaries, then from the pulpit, and in their Bible schools, the Roman heresy of the Rapture. This was a teaching that was used to turn Christian soldiers, into "spiritual foxhole" dwellers.

Carrie Ten Boom, the Christian heroine of World War II, was correct, I believe, when she stated: "The rapture doctrine is a false teaching. Jesus warned us to expect this in the last days."

The teaching of this doctrine was responsible for the slaughter of countless millions of Chinese Christians, when the communists took over. Those Christians who had been taught this doctrine, did nothing to protect themselves from the "antichrist's" of Communism, since they had been told they would be Raptured before the persecution got too bad. Many of those who had not been contaminated by this doctrine, were able to escape and are the nucleus of the Christian church in China today.

In Rev. 2:20-22, Christ warned the church at Thyatira to beware of a false "prophetess" who was causing the church to commit "spiritual adultery."

What is "spiritual adultery?" Read Rev. 22:18,19, where you will find that anyone who adds to the teaching of the Word (Rapture; Jews chosen people, etc.), will not have his name in the book of life. (I hope our Washington pastor will read this passage and ponder on it.) Some will think that I am saying that those who believe the RAPTURE are not saved. But I didn't say that! I am merely quoting what Christ said about "adding to His Word."

In Matt. 24, Jesus warns us that His people will have to face "deceivers," in these last days, and that many of them will be persecuted, and that many will not have the spiritual courage or stamina to "endure to the end."

Duncan McDougall, in his book THE RAPTURE OF THE SAINTS, from which some of this information is taken, rightly says: "IGNORANCE IS THE MOTHER OF DEVOTION! There is a king of 'self-righteousness' which thrives in the hotbed of ignorance, like a mushroom which grows only in the dark. It is of an emotional nature, akin to autosuggestion, easily captured by any wind of doctrine that appeals to the senses, or which gives one a feeling of exhilaration, and does not like to be hindered by the cold facts of history, experience, or the plain teaching of the World of God."

It is interesting to note that one of the facets of J. N. Darby's Church of the Brethren, who was a chief promoter of the Rapture Doctrine, was to discourage individual Bible study, a thing which had been prohibited by the Roman Catholic church during the Middle Ages, and against which much of the Reformation Movement had been aimed.

The same kind of "know-nothingism" can be seen in fundamentalist circles today, where Christians are encouraged to get answers on such things as prophecy, not from the Book, but from the pastor. Of course, when they do this, they usually get a rehash of what the pastor got from the professor in seminary.

Today's pastors are kept so busy with extra-curricular church activities, board meetings, civic responsibilities, visitation, weddings and funerals, counseling, etc., that it is easy for Saturday to slip up on them and they have no sermon prepared for the Lord's Day. They often fall into the temptation of using Dr. So-and-So's Book of Sermon Outlines, which every pastor's library has. There he can find the scripture, illustrations, and everything needed to put together a pretty good thirty minute sermon in less than a hour. The problem being that his congregation gets a rehash of what Dr. So-and-So believes, which may not necessarily be what the Word of God teaches.

God did not give us the Book of Revelation to confuse His people, for we know He is not the "author of confusion." Nor did He give us this marvelous book as some "happy hunting ground," for a sensation seeking prophetic preacher, who wants to titillate his audience.

As a result, we need to be extremely careful and not become dogmatic about unfulfilled prophecy. Today, with the United Nations victory in the Middle East, Christian Zionist preachers such as Pat Robertson, Jimmy Swaggart, and Jerry Falwell, are having a "field day," as they speculate (and this is all it is), on when Armageddon will take place, and whether the Lord will return before 1992.

Yet our prophetic preachers have trifled with prophesy in the past, to the point where they have often become the "laughing stock" of the world and rightly so. When a man can publish a book such as 88 REASONS THE RAPTURE WILL OCCUR IN 1988, which sold thousands of copies to gullible fundamentalists, and then get by with the lame excuse that he had made a miscalculation, we know something is desperately wrong.

In Col. Wilson's book RAPTURE, p.77, he says: "Many well-known evangelists and teachers of radio and TV had broadcast and written books that the Rapture would occur in 1981. When it did not come to pass, the date for the great Christian 'lift off' was changed to June 28,1981, but no go! Then they issued a correction (Noah's forty days of rain), so the heavenly countdown was delayed until August 7,1981. Still no launch! And today, ten years later, people still listen and finance these same false prophets.

I can recall no prophet, or Jesus Himself, who ever made a prediction, and when it failed, got by by saying: "Whoops! I made a mistake. What I really meant was . "1 John 4:1 tells us that we are not to "believe every spirit, but try (Greek "dokimazo" meaning: "examine; test; prove") the spirits whether they are of God: BECAUSE many FALSE PROPHETS are gone out into the world." We have droves of them in America!

2 Peter 2:1, says there will be "false prophets also among the people, even as there are false teachers among you ..." The sign of a false prophet is given in Deut 18:22 - "When a prophet (preacher of prophecy) speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing that the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet (preacher) hath spoken presumptiously (Hebrew - "zadown" meaning: arrogantly; with pride"), thou shalt not be afraid of him." In Jer. 28:9, Israel was warned of false prophets: "For they prophesy falsely: I have not sent them, saith the Lord."

Any prophet or preacher of prophesy who prophecies anything which will turn a man or woman away from the true meaning of God's Word, deserves the death penalty according to Deut. 13:5, and this includes those who turn Christians from being "soldiers of the cross," into "spiritual foxhole" dwellers, by telling them that they are going to be Raptured before the tribulation.

In closing, let me point out some of the consequences of believing and/or preaching the Rapture Doctrine, as taken from Speed Wilson's book:

1. - This doctrine says by implication "Accept Jesus as your Savior and your spirit will go to heaven when you die, or fly away to heaven while you are still alive." It makes heaven the "blessed hope" and creates a false sense of security that you will be removed from this earth before things get real bad. This makes for "lukewarm" Christians, who can never become the OVERCOMERS of Revelation 2 and 3.

2. - The Rapture will rob you of attaining the full salvation God has promised and prepared for you. When you are taught that when you are "saved you have it all; and will receive your reward in heaven," scripture does not teach this. Scripture does teach both a "spiritual" and a "physical" salvation, but not through a Rapture. Do not let the lie of the Rapture cause you to "stop short" of all God has promised and reserved for you through Jesus Christ.

3. - Do you want to go on to "spiritual completeness" with the Lord? Until "all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the fulness of Christ: That ye henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine (Rapture), by the sleight (meaning "pride") of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive," (Eph. 4:13,14.) Christ is in you "the hope of glory," not some false doctrine, whether it be the Rapture or any other unscriptural teaching.

4. - In Hebrews 11, we are told about men and women who were willing to "run the race that is marked out for us," and that we would "throw off everything that hinders our running." A long distance runner is not going to carry an eighty pound backpack. He will throw off any excess weight, so he can run more efficiently. We must do the same thing, if we love the Lord, and this means we must be willing to suffer with Him, if necessary, and even die, as millions of others have done. This idea is completely foreign to the teaching of the Rapture.

5. - The Rapture theory causes Christian men and women to "become so heavenly minded, they are no earthly good." Many Rapturists have completely detached themselves from national and world events, and will have nothing to do with the scriptural teaching of national salvation. Yet over 2/3rds of the Bible is taken up with this aspect of God's will for men.

These apathetic Christians are the major reason the Secular Humanists have been able to take over our public school system. It is impossible to "occupy until He comes," as He charged Christians to do, when you are cowering in a spiritual foxhole, waiting for Christ to rescue you from the mess caused by your apathy.

My challenge to you, like that of Brother Speed Wilson, especially to those of you who have become obsessed with the Rapture Doctrine, and who no doubt will be terribly upset with this article, is to prove me wrong. Not by what your denominational leaders say, not by what Doctor So-and-So D.D. has to say, but by the Word of God. I will take my stand on that!

Man was made in the image of God, in knowledge, righteousness, holiness, and was given dominion over the earth (See Gen. 1:26; Col. 3:10; Eph. 4:24). Our Standards of Christian conduct cannot be man as he makes himself, but man as God made him. According to Psalm 138:14, man was "fearfully and wonderfully made." We were created to rule the earth, to have dominion over it, to rule it according to God's eternal Law. To diminish this calling and responsibility in any way; to reduce God's Law to a few vague moral precepts that man wants to follow, is to set a minimum for faithfulness, and this in itself is evil. Christians cannot afford to be amateurs. There is too much at stake. Our calling MUST be a total one! We MUST give God., nothing less than our ALL. Even if this means our life!

There is nothing which points up the weakness of the modern church, more than the reduction of faith from God's super-natural act of saving us, to any easy believism and casual disobedience,'' when we want to "to do our own thing instead of obeying Him."

A famous man on his death bed was reported to have said: "God will forgive me; that is His business." Protestants have been quick to condemn the church of Rome for its doctrine of "indulgences"; but we have fashioned our own doctrine of indulgence, when we tell our people "Accept Christ, and you will be safe; if you sin, He will forgive you." We have been guilty of turning salvation into a sort of fire insurance policy," to keep men and women out of hell. That's why it has become so easy for our white Christians, who should be in the forefront of bringing this nation back to God, to accept an easy doctrine like the Rapture. I'm not sure it will work!

Jesus said in Luke 6:46 - "Why call ye me, Lord, Lord! and do not the things which I say?" I am fed up with the signs I see as I travel around the country, which have been erected by some church group at the entrance to their city. They say: JESUS IS LORD OF THIS CITY! Yet I can find open bars, shops that sell pornography, abortion clinics, and for all I know, houses of prostitution. Jesus is NOT Lord of that town. That is just a cliche to make church folks feel good. These church folks should study Matt. 7:21, where our Lord clearly stated: "Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord! Lord! shall enter into the kingdom of heaven (LISTEN CLOSELY NOW!) but he that doeth the will (Obeys the law, according to 1 John 3:4) of my Father which is in heaven."

I don't know many fundamental preachers who have the "spiritual guts" to preach this truth. They know they would lose members, and along with that, the "almighty dollar" which has become so precious to them.

We turn our back on personal Christian responsibility when we tell ourselves and others, "All that is necessary is to have faith, and believe in Jesus. He will take care of everything else." These folks are making a mockery of God's Word, for He has given us certain responsibilities too.

Could these apathetic, "twinkie-marshmallow" Christians be the ones the King had in mind, when He said in Luke 13:25 "...and ye shall begin to stand without (the Kingdom), and to knock at the door, saying: 'Lord! Lord!, open unto us:' and He shall answer and say unto them, I know not whence (who) you are!"

Amateur Christians, the kind who would rejoice at the idea of a Rapture which would whisk them away from all earthly responsibility, when millions of others have suffered and died for our Lord, show the modern form of Phariseeism which the Apostle Paul describes in 2 Timothy 3:5 - "... having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." The road to hell will be lined with people such as this.

Take your Bible and look at the road signs, which are placed there to warn Christians of hazards ahead!

The Apostle John in his first Epistle (3:8) tells us: "For this purpose (to combat evil) the Son of God was manifested (made known) that He might destroy (utterly annihilate) the works of the devil: Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, (this refers to wilful sin); for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is of God. In this the children of God are manifested (made known) and the children of the devil; whosoever doeth not righteousness IS NOT OF GOD, neither is he that LOVETH not his brother." You see, Christian, there MUST be a difference between you and the world. If you act the same as they do, then you are NONE OF HIS!

So, my fundamentalist, Rapture minded friend, you can stand up in church and testify until you are "blue in the face," about what the Lord has done for you; you can knock on every door in town, inviting them to come to church; you can speak to your friends and witness of what Christ has done for you and what He can do for them. But if your life shows that you ignore His Law, and believe that because you are a Christian you can get away with it, then according to The WORD, "that man's religion is in vain!" For, "What you do, shouts so loud, I can't hear what you say!"

Don't get angry with me, for telling you these things. I am not making them up. They come direct from the Book. They were put there to warn you DANGER! DETOUR! BRIDGE IS OUT! Will you listen to these warnings and take a complete stand for the King, and the White Christian civilization which has given you every worthwhile thing you have, or are you going to listen to the "sweet talk," of the false teachers, and be destroyed?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Webpage About the Author Lt. Col. Gordon (Jack) Mohr AUS RET.

Return to Jack Mohr's Index Page

---