The so-called origin of ‘the rapture’ is a false doctrine and anti-Biblical.

It started when a woman named Margaret MacDonald put herself into a trance and had a ‘vision’ that the ‘church’ would come out of the world BEFORE the Great Tribulation. She wrote this ‘vision’ down in a letter and a British theologian in the United Kingdom name John Darby ran with it! He came to the United States in 1830 and brought with him the teaching of the rapture. This spread like wildfire throughout our country in 1830. A man by the name of C. I. Scofield published the first ever reference Bible at the end of the 1800s. In the footnotes of this Bible, Scofield referenced what the rapture was. His Bible grew in popularity, but we need to understand WHY. It was ‘rapture theology that the people liked; the footnotes Mr. Scofield wrote; not the actual ‘Word of God itself.

From famous evangelists, such as Billy Sunday in the 1920s to Hal Lindsey, who had a TV program in the 1970s and 1980s even I used to watch and almost believed. Mr. Lindsey was on TBN at the time and spoke of a New World Order, which our government and others is trying to accomplish now, to the Tribulation and then speaking about a rapture of the church before this Great Tribulation.

People need to know that any minister speaking on this today is wrong and leading the people incorrectly. True Christians cannot put our trust and faith in ‘false prophets’. Christ himself said there would be false prophets on the earth and would deceive many. Man who puts his trust in man is cursed. Jeremiah the prophet said this. We must put our trust in God alone. People forget that satan is the god of this world. He is destroying as many people as he can now because he knows he has a very short time left.

There are seven church eras that Christ speaks about in Revelations: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Christ has praise for both Smyrna and Philadelphia. We happen to be in the last era of the church, Laodicea, which is LUKEWARM. Christ says because the church is lukewarm, He will spew this church out of his mouth.

Who do we think we are to go in a ‘false’ rapture before God’s wrath upon this earth? Are we better than the Son of God who NEVER sinned a day in His life? No, we’re not. Some of us may face prison, some may be martyred just as 11 of Christ’s apostles were martyred. Some will be taken into captivity to other countries as slaves. Christians in earlier times had these same trials. Paul was beheaded for his faith. A crown awaits him. A crown awaits all the prophets God has used to ‘wake the people up’ in Israel and in Judah anciently.

We all have to keep growing in God’s grace and not just be ‘hearers’ of the Law but ‘doers’ as well.

Don’t believe ‘false prophets’ who have deceived many during Paul’s days and even today. False prophets are all around us.

Perhaps people need to ‘wipe the dust’ off their Bibles and read the original King James version of the Holy Bible and not all the newer ‘more popular’ Bibles of today, which change words and misguide people into believing lies. Start at the beginning with Genesis. The Bible is Jesus Christ in Print.

SHARON M. CLEES

Montoursville

Submitted by Virtual Newsroom