The Testimony of Jesus: Why the Rapture of the Church Matters

The timing of the Church's Rapture has been and continues to be among premillenarian Christians (i.e., they who affirm a literal 1,000-year reign of the Son of David upon the Earth in the person of the glorified Son of Man) a most contentious issue. They who refrain or boast that they are, consequently, "pan-trib" are only hiding from the fray behind ignorance or seek to keep a very shaky "unity" with others around the table where such issues are best left to the nether world of those who delight in counting the number of angels who can dance on the end of a pin. Under the adage that "They who stand for nothing may fall for anything" cannot be said of stalwart pretribbers (i.e., those who believe the Rapture comes before the final Week of human history as we know it to be--the 70th Week of Daniel's prophecy found in Daniel 9:24-27). They at least have conviction on the matter. Although this text will "take on" the alleged "biblical" assumptions of the pretrib Rapture position as doctrinally erroneous; it at least commends them for taking a position!

Furthermore, they are our "comrades in arms" when push comes to shove in the trenches of "spiritual warfare" in the latter days. Notwithstanding our many compatibilities on key elements, not only of the Faith once delivered to the saints, but on a host of prophetic possibilities--we simply agree to disagree agreeably on one of the most important aspects of end-times' prophecy: The Rapture's Timing.

This text seeks to systematically counter point after point made by those versed in the pre-trib position--and, yes, this is an in-house food fight . . . so if this might interest you, it would most likely be because you take your eschatology seriously enough to delve into these matters.

Much is at stake regarding the primary issues of the pre-trib position relative to the chronological order of Matthew 24-25 - the timing of the "Birth Pangs of the Messiah" - issues defining the timing of the Day of the Lord, Day of Christ, Day of God - the nature of the Wrath of God/the Lamb vs. the "Devil's Great Wrath" - Tribulation vs. God's Wrath - the "Time of Jacob's Trouble" - issues surrounding the "Tribulation Saints" - Israel and the Church's possible "united testimony" in the Latter Days - the so-called "Imminent Return of Christ" - the "Last Trumpet" - the Revelation of the Man of Sin/the Antichrist - timing/nature of the Abomination of Desolation - the timing of the New Heaven and New Earth - the Fullness of the Gentiles - Who are the Two Witnesses? - John the Baptist would have been Elijah "if you would have received him?"

All these and many more issues are brought forward in systematic fashion in an attempt to "deconstruct" the superstructure of the pre-trib Rapture of the Church.

If you are easily offended by such disputes and find them counter-productive to the "main thing" of the gospel, we unapologetically do not concur with your position. It is time to examine these matters with all due diligence to determine if these things be so--what if one is the wrong and the Church embarrassingly, if you would, finds herself smack dab in the middle of the fray at the end of days until "they [the martyrs of the Church under the Fifth Seal] should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were was completed" (Rev. 5:11)?

Are these martyrs just the martyrs during the "tribulation" or do they represent the martyrs of all generations? Rev. 3:10 speaks of being "kept from the hour of trial which is to test them that dwell on the earth." Agreed. But are not these the same "earth dwellers" who delight in the death of the "Two Martyrs" (a.k.a. Witnesses) of Rev. 11?

This nearly 500-page book - if you can endure unto the end - is designed to change your world view. It has an abundance of charts, references, indexes [both subject and Scripture] and is heavily footnoted. MARANATHA - Our Lord, C