The Second Coming of Jesus (Part Seven)

In this series on the second coming of Jesus, the secret rapture has been characterized as one of the deceptive winds of false doctrine contrived by the sleight of men through cunning craftiness (Ephesians 4:14). There is an old saying, “repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth.”

This warning thought is not intended to be an indictment against the many fine Christians who believe this teaching to be true. Hopefully it will serve as a reminder that every wind of doctrine needs to be carefully scrutinized by the Word of God (Isaiah 8:20).

This particular doctrine is built upon a continual repetition of words and ideas foreign to the Word of God. Because they have been repeated so often many have come to believe they are Bible based. By way of example, the word “rapture” is not found anywhere in the Bible. It is an invention of theologians, devised to add a hint of intrigue to the catching up of the saints (which is what it means) at the coming of

Jesus. Placing the word secret in front of rapture, which also is not in the Biblical text, completes the picture. The same is true concerning the words seven years of tribulation, and the concept of dividing the second coming into two phases, all of which has been repeated so often in books, sermons, and movies, it has become truth by repetition.

Without the Bible as its foundation, it is riddled with reasonings that run contrary to logic and raises unanswerable questions. For example, Christ’s coming, the resurrection, and catching up of the saints to meet Him in the air, all take place at the same time, at the end of the world.

His parting promise to the church was, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20). Why would He make that promise if He was planning to secretly rapture the church seven years before the end of the world?

Next week, in concluding this series on the Second Coming of Christ, a closer look at the single most quoted text (Matthew 24:40, 41) used by rapturists in support of their sensational depiction of millions of people suddenly disappearing, leaving pilotless planes and driverless automobiles to crash.