Pre-Tribulation Rapture is a hoax, and here is why!

The time is coming where many will fail to understand the true deception that has taken over a large part of the church.First ALL of this is compiled research and below at the bottom you can find all sources… Lets Begin.
Watchmansreport2127: Full Pre trib rapture explanation on where it came from! DO NOT BE FOOLED!

Letting scripture speak for itself!

WHY PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE DOCTRINE IS FALSE
We will let the word of God speak for itself.

(John 8:51 KJV) Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.

(Matthew 13:24-30 KJV) Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: {25} But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. {26} But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. {27} So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? {28} He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? {29} But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. {30} Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

(Matthew 24:29-31 KJV) Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: {30} And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. {31} And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

(Luke 17:26-30 KJV) And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. {27} They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. {28} Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; {29} But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. {30} Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

(John 17:15 KJV) I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

(John 17:20 KJV) Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

(Mark 8:38 KJV) Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

(Psalms 110:1 KJV) A Psalm of David. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand,until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

(Acts 3:19-21 KJV) Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; {20} And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: {21} Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

(Proverbs 2:21-22 KJV) For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. {22} But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

(Proverbs 10:30 KJV) The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth.

(Mark 13:11-27 KJV) But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost. {12} Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. {13} And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. {14} But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains: {15} And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein, to take any thing out of his house: {16} And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment. {17} But woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! {18} And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter. {19} For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be. {20} And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect’s sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days. {21} And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not: {22} For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. {23} But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things. {24} But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, {25} And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. {26} And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. {27} And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.

(2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 KJV) Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, {2} That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. {3} Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; {4} Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

(2 Peter 3:3-14 KJV) Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, {4} And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. {5} For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: {6} Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: {7} But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. {8} But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. {9} The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. {10} But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. {11} Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, {12} Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? {13} Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. {14} Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

 

(John 12:48 KJV) He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

(Revelation 1:1-3 KJV) The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: {2} Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. {3} Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

The word ‘prophecy’ means from the Greek language:

4394. propheteia, prof-ay-ti’-ah; from G4396 (“prophecy”); prediction (scriptural or other):–prophecy, prophesying.

It is the same word that is used in the last of the Book of Revelation.

(Revelation 22:18-21 KJV) For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: {19} And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. {20} He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. {21} The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

When the book of Revelation was circulated in the early church, it was seen as a separate book from the rest of the writings and was not in the form as we see it now combined with the rest of the written word.  When it speaks of the “words of prophecy of this book”, it is speaking of the Book of Revelation alone.  Of course it would not be pleasing to God to ‘add to’ or ‘take away’ from any part of the Bible, but in this case, it could cause your name to be taken out of the book of life, and to have the plagues in the book of Revelation to be added unto you, and you could not enter into the holy city or receive any of the blessings that God has provided for his children.  This is how serious it is to believe the false Pre-Tribulation Rapture doctrine!
We plead with you to pray about what you believe and ask God to remove any preconceived man-made teachings from your mind as you re-read His word so that God can reveal His truth to you.

Where did all of this stem from, it stemmed in the New Age movement during the 1800’s

History[edit]

Antecedents[edit]

Two nineteenth-century esoteric philosophers greatly influenced the New Age movement: Helena Blavatsky (left) and G.I. Gurdjieff (right)

The New Age movement is a form of Western esotericism,^[18] and thus has antecedents stretching back to southern Europe in Late Antiquity.^[19] As such, it has various antecedents within the esoteric milieu. Some of the New Age movement’s constituent elements appeared initially in the 19th-century metaphysicalmovements: Spiritualism, Theosophy, and New Thought and also the alternative medicine movements of chiropractics and naturopathy.^[4][20] The author Nevill Druryclaimed there are “four key precursors of the New Age”, who had set the way for many of its widely held precepts.^[21]

One of the earliest influences on the New Age movement was the Swedish Christian mystic Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772), who professed the ability to communicate with angels, demons, and spirits.^[22] Another early influence was the German physician and hypnotist Franz Mesmer (1734–1815), who claimed the existence of a force known as “animal magnetism” running through the human body.^[22] A further major influence on the New Age movement was the Theosophical Society, an esoteric group co-founded by the Russian Helena Blavatsky (1831–1891). In her books Isis Unveiled (1877) and The Secret Doctrine (1888), Blavatsky claimed that her Society was conveying the essence of all world religions, and it thus emphasised a focus on comparative religion.^[22]

A further influence was New Thought, which developed in late nineteenth century New England as a Christian-oriented healing movement before spreading throughout the United States.^[23] An additional influence was George Gurdjieff (c. 1872–1949), who founded the philosophy of the Fourth Way, through which he conveyed a number of spiritual teachings to his disciples. A fifth individual whom Drury identified as an important influence upon the New Age movement was the Indian Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902), an adherent of the philosophy of Vedanta who first brought Hinduism to the West in the late 19th century.^[24]

New Age shrine in Glastonbury, England

Popularisation behind these ideas has roots in the work of early 20th century writers such as D. H. Lawrence and William Butler Yeats. In the early- to mid-1900s, American mystic, theologian, and founder of the Association for Research and Enlightenment Edgar Cayce was a seminal influence on what later would be termed the New Age movement; he was known in particular for the practice some refer to as channeling.^[25] Another prominent influence was the psychologist Carl Jung,^[26] who was a proponent of the concept of the Age of Aquarius.^[27][28][29] Former Theosophist Rudolf Steiner and his Anthroposophical movement are a major influence. Neo-Theosophist Alice Bailey published the book Discipleship in the New Age (1944), which used the term New Age in reference to the transition from theastrological age of Pisces to Aquarius.^{[citation needed]}

Hanegraaff believed that the New Age movement’s direct antecedents could be found in the UFO cults of the 1950s, which he termed a “proto-New Age movement”. Many of these new religious movements had strong apocalyptic beliefs regarding a coming new age, which they typically asserted would be brought about by contact with extraterrestrials.^[30]

From a historical perspective, the New Age movement is rooted in the counterculture of the 1960s.^[31] This decade also witnessed the emergence of a variety of new religious movements and newly established religions in the United States, creating a spiritual milieu from which the New Age movement drew upon; these included the San Francisco Zen Center, Transcendental Meditation,Soka Gakkai, the Inner Peace Movement, the Church of All Worlds, and the Church of Satan.^[32] Although there had been an established interest in Asian religious ideas in the U.S. from at least the eighteenth-century,^[33] many of these new developments were variants of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sufism which had been imported to the West from Asia following the U.S. government’s decision to rescind the Asian Exclusion Act in 1965.^[34] In 1962 the Esalen Institute was established in Big Sur, California.^[35] It was from Esalen and other similar personal growth centers which had developed links to humanistic psychology that the human potential movement emerged, which would also come to exert a strong influence on the New Age movement.^[36]

Meanwhile in Britain, a number of small religious groups that came to be identified as the “light” movement had begun declaring the existence of a coming new age, influenced strongly by the Theosophical ideas of Blavatsky and Bailey.^[37] The most prominent of these groups was the Findhorn Foundation which founded the Findhorn Ecovillage in the Scottish area of Findhorn, Moray in 1962.^[38]

All of these groups would create the backdrop from which the New Age movement emerged; as James R. Lewis and J. Gordon Melton point out, the New Age movement represents “a synthesis of many different preexisting movements and strands of thought”.^[39] Nevertheless, York asserted that while the New Age movement bore many similarities with both earlier forms of Western esotericism and Eastern religion, it remained “distinct from its predecessors in its own self-consciousness as a new way of thinking.”^[40]

Early development[edit]

This barrel house was the first dwelling constructed at theFindhorn Ecovillage.

The counterculture of the 1960s had rapidly declined by the start of the 1970s, in large part due to the collapse of the commune movement,^[41] but it would be many former members of the counter-culture and hippy subculture who subsequently became early adherents of the New Age movement.^[39] The exact origins of the New Age movement remain an issue of debate; Melton asserted that it emerged in the early 1970s,^[42] whereas Hanegraaff instead traced its emergence to the latter 1970s, adding that it then entered its full development in the 1980s.^[43] This early form of the movement was based largely in Britain and exhibited a strong influence from Theosophy and Anthroposophy.^[44] Hanegraaff termed this early core of the movement the New Age sensu stricto, or “New Age in the strict sense”.^[44]

In the latter part of the 1970s, the New Age movement expanded to cover a wide variety of alternative spiritual and religious beliefs and practices, not all of which explicitly held to the belief in the Age of Aquarius, but which were nevertheless widely recognised as being broadly similar in their search for “alternatives” to mainstream society.^[44] In doing so, the “New Age” became a banner under which to bring together the wider “cultic milieu” of American society.^[18] Hanegraaff terms this development the New Age sensu lato, or “New Age in the wider sense”.^[44] This probably influenced several thousand small metaphysical book- and gift-stores that increasingly defined themselves as “New Age bookstores”.^[45][46]

1971 witnessed the foundation of est by Werner H. Erhard, a spiritual training course which became a prominent part of the early movement.^[47] Melton suggested that the 1970s witnessed the growth of a relationship between the New Age movement and the older New Thought movement, as evidenced by the widespread use of Helen Schucman‘s A Course in Miracles (1975), New Age music, and crystal healing in New Thought churches.^[48] Some figures in the New Thought movement were sceptical, challenging the compatibility of New Age and New Thought perspectives.^[49]

Crop circles appear in New Age thought

Several key events occurred, which raised public awareness of the New Age subculture: the production of the musical Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical (1967) with its opening song “Aquarius” and its memorable line “This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius“;^[50] publication of Linda Goodman‘s best-selling astrology books Sun Signs(1968) and Love Signs (1978); the release of Shirley MacLaine‘s book Out on a Limb (1983), later adapted into a television mini-series with the same name (1987); and the “Harmonic Convergence” planetary alignment on August 16 and 17, 1987,^[51] organized by José Argüelles in Sedona, Arizona. The Convergence attracted more people to the movement than any other single event.^[52]

The claims of channelers Jane Roberts (Seth Material), Helen Schucman (A Course in Miracles), J. Z. Knight (Ramtha), Neale Donald Walsch (Conversations with God) (note that Walsch denies being a “channeler” and his books make it obvious that he is not one, though the text emerged through a dialogue with a deeper part of himself in a process comparable to automatic writing), and Rene Gaudette (The Wonders) contributed to the movement’s growth.^[53][54] Relevant New Age works include the writings ofJames Redfield, Eckhart Tolle, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Christopher Hills, Marianne Williamson, Deepak Chopra, John Holland, Gary Zukav, Wayne Dyer, and Rhonda Byrne.^{[citation needed]} The first significant exponent of the New Age movement in the U.S. has been cited as Ram Das.^[55] A core work in the movement was the 1975 publicationA Course in Miracles.^[56]

The Holistic aspect of the New Age movement moved into the mainstream with The Mandala Society’s first Holistic Health Conferences that were ever presented along with a medical school. This was at the University of California, San Diego beginning in 1975 and continuing for ten years. Every year about 3,000 health professionals and educators participated in over thirty workshops focused on the many different aspects of Holistic Health. The first National Holistic Education Conference was presented with the University of California, San Diego, in 1979. These conferences were created and directed by David J. Harris who also created the National Center for the Exploration of Human Potential in 1968 for Dr. Herbert Otto and Dr. Abraham Maslow. The name was changed to The Health Optimizing Institute in 1992 and is one example of the Human Potential Movement’s contribution to the New Age.

Pre-Trib, the Rosicrucian Rapture

According to Theopedia, “Premillennialism was the most widely held view of the earliest centuries of the church.” It mostly died out beginning in the 4th century and was little seen until after the Reformation when, in the late 1800s, early 1900s, it was revived in the British Isles and spread to American Fundamentalism and Dispensationalism.

The article continues that,

Premillennialists fall into two primary categories: historic premillennialism anddispensational premillennialism. Historic premillennialism is so called because it is the classic form which may be found in writings of some of the early church fathers, although in an undeveloped form. Dispensational premillennialism is that form which derives from John Nelson Darby (1800-1882) and dispensational theology. It is dispensational premillennialism that first taught the notion of a pre-tribulation rapture. … (On the other hand,) historic premillennialists reject the idea of a pre-tribulationrapture … . (Premillennialism)

The dispensationalist’s pre-tribulation rapture does not stand alone. It is the first side of a two-sided coin. The other side is that the moment the rapture occurs and the seven-year reign of the Antichrist begins, is the moment the Christian dispensation ends and a new dispensation centered on the conversion of natural Jews begins.

Classic dispensationalists (ala C. I. Scofield and Lewis Sperry Chafer) are pre-tribulationists and believe that the second coming will be in two stages separated by a 7-year period of tribulation. At the first he will return in the air to rescue those who are Christians at that time (the rapture). Then (7 years later, after the reign of the Antichrist,) Christ will return to the earth. He will defeat the Antichrist, and rescue the Jews and those who have converted to Christianity during the tribulation period¹.

By contrast, historic premillennialists would be generally categorized as “Post-tribulationists” because … they hold that Christ will not return until the end of the Great tribulation and that Christians will suffer for the faith as they bring forth the final witness associated with the 5th seal of the book of Revelation.” (Premillennialism)

Dispensational premillennialism is sometimes called “Darbyism”², after John Nelson Darby who popularized it in England and began its spread abroad as part of a charismatic revivalist group he was instrumental in promoting that came to be called the Plymouth Brethren.³

By 1835 he had formulated his doctrine of the “secret” pre-tribulational rapture. According to Wikipedia, some researchers say that Darby’s source was demonic – that he picked it up from another English revivalist group (generally considered to be heretical) popularized largely by Edward Irving.

Samuel Prideaux Tregelles alleged that John Nelson Darby‘s concept of the rapture was taken from one of the charismatic utterances in Edward Irving’s church (at a prophecy conference held in 1830 at Powerscourt Castle, Ireland). Since Tregelles regarded the utterances as “pretending to be from God,” his implication is that Darby’s rapture is from a demonic source. Dave MacPherson built upon Tregelles’s accusation, and claimed the source for Darby’s rapture was from an utterance of Margaret MacDonald.[1][5]

Others say that Darby would not have accepted this source, saying that Darby himself regarded MacDonald’s utterances as demonic[4][6], that Darby first wrote his views down in 1827, three years prior to the Powerscourt prophecy conference[7], and that the MacDonald statement was actually post-tribulationist anyway (describing the tribulation as “being the fiery trial which is to try us” and “for the purging and purifying of the real members of the body of Jesus”)[8][9]. The Wikipedia article therefore concludes, “For these and other reasons, scholars consider MacPherson’s alleged connection to dispensationalism as untenable.”[10]

Margaret MacDonald was born in 1815 in Port Glasgow, Scotland and died around 1840.[1] She lived with her two older brothers, James and George, both of whom ran a shipping business.[1] Beginning in 1826 and through 1829, a few preachers in Scotland emphasized that the world’s problems could only be addressed through an outbreak of supernatural gifts from the Holy Spirit.[2] In response, Isabella and Mary Campbell of the parish of Rosneath manifested charismatic experiences such as speaking in tongues. Around 1830, miraculous healings were reported through James Campbell, first of his sister Margaret MacDonald and then of Mary Campbell (through James’s letter to Mary).[3] Shortly thereafter James and George MacDonald manifested the speaking and interpretations of tongues, and soon others followed suit in prayer meetings. These charismatic experiences garnered major national attention. Many came to see and investigate these events. Some, such as Edward Irving and Henry Drummond, regarded these events as genuine displays from the Holy Spirit. Others, including John Nelson Darby and Benjamin Wills Newton, whom the Brethren sent on their behalf to investigate, came to the conclusion that these displays were demonic. … (Wikipedia)

The Wikipedia article then offers an account of what Margaret MacDonald said. Salient points are presented here:

I was made to stop and cry out, O it is not known what the sign of the Son of Man is; … I saw it was just the Lord himself descending from Heaven … I saw the error to be, that men think that it will be something seen by the natural eye; but ’tis spiritual discernment that is needed, the eye of God in his people. … Only those who have the light of God within them (the Holy Spirit) will see the sign of his appearance. (Wikipedia)

In this opening burst she contradicts the clear word of scripture, which says in Revelation 1:7:

Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

She appears to say in the above that only Christians – believers born by the Holy Spirit – will see Christ’s return. But she is saying more than that. Look at the following:

I saw that we must be in the Spirit, that we might see spiritual things. John was in the Spirit, when he saw a throne set in Heaven.

She is describing the apostle John caught up by God in a vision. She is saying that in order to see Christ’s return it is not enough to be a born again believer. In her view, unless you have given yourself to experiencing some special form of ecstatic knowledge beyond rational thought, the return of Christ will be invisible to you. That is partly what she is referring to when she continues with this:

… the spiritual temple must and shall be reared, and the fullness of Christ be poured into his body, and then shall we be caught up to meet him.

We need to parse her words a little. She contradicts scripture and she is wrong to say that… (oops. Sorry. The thought is unfinished.)

So, if John Darby did not get this from the Irvingites, where did he get it? Partly this represented his conversion from the Anglican postmillennialism of his day. The term “postmillennial” simply refers to the return of Christ following after a glorious “millennial reign” of a thousand years under which mankind finds peace through obedience to God’s law. Postmillennialism holds that Christ will not return until the Christian Church has evangelized the whole world.

Darby was an English/Irish aristocrat and was educated as such. As a young man (not yet aware of any calling to the ministry) he studied at the prestigious Trinity College, of Dublin, founded in the 1500s as an Anglican seminary. While Darby is famous as a futurist premillennialist, among those he studied under at Trinity was Richard Graves (1763-1829), a “postmillennialist, who ‘expected a future literal kingdom of Christ universally extended over the earth.’ (John Nelson Darby and the Rapture, Dr. Thomas Ice quoting F.S. Elmore of Dallas Theological Seminary).” This was apparently a position that the student Darby accepted at the time. Ice continues that, “Darby also adopted Graves philo-Semitic view of the Jews, their future conversion and reestablishment in their homeland (ibid.).” He then quotes Elmore as saying that there was an,

atmosphere of millennial expectancy in (Darby’s training that) certainly had its effect on his eschatology. The postmillennialism of Graves dealt very literally with unfulfilled prophecy, and spawned an attitude of anticipation for an imminent change in dispensation.’[12] The influence of Graves upon Darby was significant and inculcated in him ideas and subject that would later become central in Darby’s thought and writings. … The theological grist for Darby’s later synthesis was certainly present at Trinity College in his student days.[15]

In early 1826, the same year the revivalist movements in Ireland and Scotland began, Darby was ordained a priest in the Anglican Church in Ireland. During that year and the next he was involved in an evangelistic effort in the greater Dublin area that was converting 600-800 people a week to Anglicanism. But when his archbishop began to require oaths of allegiance to the British Crown as part of conversion from Roman Catholicism the numbers dropped to nearly zero. This presented to Darby what must have seemed like the dark underside of a postmillenialist union between Church and State and was a large part of his leaving the Anglican Church and falling in with those that became known as the Plymouth Brethren. At this juncture he was rejecting the postmillennial concept he had been taught of the Church constituted as the millennial kingdom under an earthly king such as the British Crown. He was rejecting postmillennialism for an emergent premillennialist theology. Thomas Ice comments on some of his memoirs regarding these changes:

I came to understand that I was united to Christ in heaven (directly and without an earthly intermediary), and that consequently, my place before God was represented by His own.’ … Such a heavenly standing becomes the basis for much of Darby’s theology that sees the believer already positioned with Christ in heaven. ‘I was in Christ, accepted in the Beloved, and sitting in heavenly places in Him. This led me directly to the apprehension of what the true church of God was, those that were united to Christ in heaven. … At the same time, I saw that the Christian, having his place in Christ in heaven, has nothing to wait for save the coming of the Saviour, in order to be set, in fact, in the glory which is already his portion “in Christ.” (John Nelson Darby and the Rapture, Dr. Thomas Ice, quoting and commenting on Darby)

Here Darby appears to be rejecting postmillennial requirements of a Church perfected by a political and social structure that projects the kingdom of God into the world as the millennial kingdom to which Christ would return. He is replacing this with Christ coming to a Church that already has a perfected standing before him by nature of, as it would be said today, being born again. This frees Darby to see, “the coming of Christ to take the church,” as it is, “to Himself in glory.” This could happen at any time, and Ice comments that,

Such a cluster of beliefs that were formulated at this time provides the rationale for a pretribulational rapture. Darby saw a change in dispensation. This could mean that it was at this time that shifted in his eschatology from postmillennialism to premillennialism. ‘Christ coming to receive us to Himself; and collaterally with that, the setting up of a new earthly dispensation, from Isaiah xxxii. (more particularly the end) … I saw an evident change of dispensation in that chapter, when the Spirit would be poured out on the Jewish nation, and a king reign in righteousness.’

Darby, then, closes the loop by saying that the Church is now in a king-less dispensation wherein Christ alone is its king and believers are subjects of an invisible realm. He sees this church caught up to a heavenly or spiritual kingdom at Christ’s first, pre-tribulational, return. For Darby this ushers in the dispensation of earthly kingdoms, where first Antichrist attempts to rule, but after seven years Christ comes to rule as an earthly king over an earthly kingdom – and he rules this realm for a thousand years. Through Darby, the Protestant concept of the Church of the 19^th and 20^th centuries, which has no earthly vicar but is ruled by Christ alone, is very tied to dispensationalism and a pre-tribulational rapture.

But while the “Irvingite” revelations did not undergird Darby’s views and did not catch on with the Brethren, they did make other inroads. You can learn part of this history by reading Henry Drummond the Hun, a chapter in the online book, PRE-TRIBULATION PLANNING FOR A POST-TRIBULATION RAPTURE, by Tribwatch.com 1997

Tribwatch.com goes deeply into the roots, as you can see by the following. Taking the reader beyond the report that the “rapture” doctrine began with a vision, it points out that, “The Irvingites were led by (19th century elite banker) Henry Drummond of England … ,” which is a family line that is or is close to the very high level Rose family.

A prayer movement that had begun around 1820 in England with (among others) James Haldane Stewart, spread through Great Britain, the United States, and Europe. In 1830 it bore fruit in Port Glasgow, Scotland (among dissenters), and Karlshuld, Bavaria, in the form of prophecy, speaking in tongues, and miraculous healings.

During this time, in 1826, Drummond had assembled a group at his mansion in Albury Park, England, who, believing they were in the end-times, agreed to re-institute the apostolic ministry by “prophesying to themselves” 12 within their midst as apostles. Henry was made their head as apostle to Scotland. This assembly was one in a series of “Albury Conferences”. They emphasized speaking in tongues and other Heaven-sent gifts and preached a form of a pre-tribulational rapture wherein the raptured put on Godhood while remaining physically present on earth.

In 1835 they formed a church, which became known as the Holy Catholic Apostolic Church. They were also called “Irvingites”, after a preacher, Edward Irving, who was thought to have been a forerunner of their ideas. Irving in his turn had been influenced by a Jesuit priest, Manuel Lacunza⁴, who wrote under the assumed Jewish name of Juan Josafat Ben-Ezra. Also, “James Hatley Frere, involved with Drummond long before the (Irvingites existed, was) known for his strong influence on Edward Irving: ‘James Hatley Frere… seems to have deliberately selected Irving to be the popular mouthpiece of his Apocalyptic speculations’ (http://christianbeliefs.org/books/cm/cm-irving.html)”. Irving, based in a church in England, became very popular I his turn; drawing thousands to his summer mission tours in Scotland during 1827, 28.

Frere preceded the rapture doctrine, but seems to have promoted something similar: the doctrine of an “invisible” spiritual return of Christ that consisted of certain believers being invisibly “raptured” into a state of perfection while still living on earth. This was expected to usher in a millennial reign wherein these raptured souls, the elect of the elect, would rule the world. This thought was behind the election of the 12 apostles referred to above. Their fairly immediate expectation was to rule the world from 12 thrones, with Henry Drummond the chiefest among them as the apostle of Scotland.

Now it gets particularly interesting, for it begins to bring to view serial attempts by some clandestine group or groups to use the bible as a script to enact an end-time scenario of their own and through it to gain control of the world. Following in the wake of the Holy Catholic Apostolic Church, “others besides the Irvingites latched onto pre-tribulationism (e.g. John Darby), and … even took credit for the false doctrine away from the Irvingites, unto themselves.”

Frere’s invisible rapture is echoed again in the doctrine of a “Christian astrologer” and pyramidologist named Joseph Seiss, and an American Mason, Charles Russell, founder of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The http://www.premier1 website cites a man name Jonsson as concluding that, “the invisible-coming doctrine ‘was picked up later by [Joseph] Seiss and (Charles Taze) Russell probably “plagiarized” the works of Seiss in his “invisible presence” doctrine.'” The Drummond invisible-coming scheme continued through Seiss to the American Christian pyramidologist and probably freemason, C. T. Russell, whose Zion’s Watch Tower Tract Society led directly to the founding of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Charles Taze Russell was born in Allegheny, PA in 1852 to Irish immigrants who had left Ireland during the potato famine six years before, at, “a time when every village in Scotland and Britain had a Masonic Lodge (and) atonement heresies (were prevalent) along with some (Presbyterian) leaders adopting the Arian view of Christ. … Charles grew up zealously accepting the Presbyterian worldview and heritage of his parents. … Considering the evidence, Charles’ doubts about orthodox Christian doctrines may have been a reflection of his father’s doubts. (Springmeier, pg. 7,9).” As a teenager Russell took up the Arian view that Jesus Christ was merely a good man, and not God the Son.

Later, Springmeier says this. “Note, that a Presbyterian minister James Anderson was responsible for the creation of modern Freemasonry. Presbyterian ministers in Russell’s day played an important role in various lodges (Springmeier, pg. 13).” Concerning the town where Russell grew up, Springmeier adds that there was a, “heavy concentration of Scot-Irish immigrants in the area. … In 1851, in the Pittsburgh-Allegheny area there were 52 lodges of various kinds of Freemasons and Oddfellows, including a Scottish Rite lodge. … By 1858, Pittsburgh had its own Masonic Knights Templar Commandery. … Although the Masons are now spread throughout the world, when (and certainly where) Charles T. Russell grew up, it was still primarily a Scot-Irish/English blooded membership. … Russell rejected the Presbyterian and the Congregational Churches that he belonged to, because they believed in hell, and not because they allowed Freeemasons within their congregations (Springmeier, pg. 12,13,17).”

“Joseph Smith’s Masonic membership is proven, and Mary Baker Eddy’s close ties with the Freemasons are documented. … Mary Baker Eddy (and some Mormons) have used the same Masonic logo that Russell displayed (Springmeier, pg. 14,15).”

Springmeier believes that Russell was influenced by his father as well as by the Arian and Masonic undercurrents of his culture. He believes that after Russell left the Presbyterian and Congregationalist churches over the doctrine of eternal damnation and his Arianism, he found in one George Storrs, “someone to provide the accurate defense of those views (Springmeier, pg. 21).

Springmeier says that beginning at least in the 1730s professors at the University of Glasgow were teaching Arianism and that the preachers in Ulster, Russell’s mother’s home in Ireland had all been trained there. He concludes that,

generations of young susceptible minds were led into heresy by the staff of this university. This theological training explains why Ulster County churches were Arian in view for many years, and how the New-Light movement was able to steadily progress, and ultimately take over control of the Synod of Ulster, Ireland. … The Synod of Ulster degenerated for several generations into heretical views of salvation and Christ. … By July 30, 1829, the Arians knew they were beat, and many of them formed their own synod. The strength and numbers of the Arians continued to decline over the next years. In 1841, the Arians and the Trinitarians clashed again in the Scottish Presbyterian churches. And from this hotbed of heresy in Ulster comes Charles T. Russell’s parents. (Springmeier, pg. 22-24).

Noting that Russell is known to have preached on the parallels between the Masonic Hiram Abiff and Jesus Christ, Springmeier says, “Masonic sources and some of their best references show that in spite of their public denials, they do view Hiram Abiff as the Messiah figure. Since Russell would not have learned that Freemasons view Hiram Abiff as the Messiah from a casual conversation with a Mason, he must have learned it from an indepth study of the Masons. The author has never heard or read in 20 years of sermons, any Christian preacher showing Christ’s Messiahship by appealing to parallels to Hiram Abiff (Springmeier, pg. 28).

The chapter continues, “Nathan Rothschild may have played a/the leadership role in the Drummond attempt at world rule,” saying they both lived in London, and, “Apparently, feigning Armageddon (with the first world war) was a part of the Rothschild hoax, for Russell had predicted the setting up of God’s Kingdom on the first year of the war (1914).”

C. T. Russell and J. F. Rutherford were foundational to the Jehovah’s Witnesses. They made all the decisions of the Watchtower Society for the first 60 years. Russell was one of America’s early Christian Zionists. But after Russell’s death in 1916 his church reverted to an anti-Zionist position. At first there was a struggle over which of Russell’s hand-picked directors⁵ would be in charge. One of them, Joseph Rutherford, took the day and by the 1930s had the Watch Tower teaching “anti-Semitism” in its Awake! Magazine⁶ claiming to stand against the Jewish internationalist banking power. At that time they began publishing statements like these: “It has been the commercial Jews of the British-American empire that have built up and carried on Big Business as a means of exploiting and oppressing the peoples of many nations (Awake! July 8, 1998 pages 13-14 quoting the Watch Tower Society’s 1933 ‘Declaration of Facts’)” and “There has never been the slightest bit of money contributed to our work by Jews (Ibid. page 13)” (Watch Tower puts new Spin on its 1933 anti-Jewish Remarks).⁷ These statements may not mean that Rutherford’s Watch Tower Society actually stood against the banking power, but only that it wanted to be perceived as such. For example, during the 1930s the organization looked favorably upon and promoted the rise of Hitler. Hitler, however, while he appeared to be virulently antagonistic to the bankers, was actually raised to power largely through their financial support. Just as the internationalist bankers were a mainstay of Hitler’s rise financially, the Watch Tower served as a propaganda arm for the same cause.

According to Fritz Springmeier, in his 244 page book, The Watchtower and the Masons,

There is a coming New World Order planned by the secretive leaders of the Jehovah’s Witnesses that should scare the socks off anyone including the JWs themselves. However, if this New World Order were only in the hands of Jehovah’s Witnesses to initiate, we could relax, because they have only minimal political clout, few guns, and teach non- participation in war. It’s when we get the bigger picture that we realize these people are talking about something serious.

This author’s research has led him to conclude that the 1- world-government 1-world-religion that the New Age has planned for us, and the 1-world-government and 1-world-religion that the Freemasons such as the Grand Orient have planned, and the Watchtower Society’s New Order are one and the same. (And,) the Jehovah’s Witnesses are playing a big role in preparing the world for this incoming world government. (pgs. 3,4). …

The book covers the second WT President’s modus operandi in covering up the use of a demonic (Watchtower) healing device. It also shows how demons played the crucial role in channeling information to the Watchtower leaders. Each of these items is just a piece in the puzzle about who these men are, and what their objectives are.

The story becomes yet more interesting when we ask why groups like the internationalist bankers, aristocratic families, and secret societies would give any serious thought to using biblical prophecies about the end of Days as a script for world takeover.

Did Henry Drummond see his ancestry in the savage Huns? Was he, in his Histories, leaking information that Drummond elitists/Illuminatists … secrets are bound, not only in Attila, but in the Huns previous to him? The Huns are traced back to a union between a Scythian and a Sumerian (i.e. a Magogite and Nimrod)–the mortal enemies of the Biblical God…the God which the Drummonds professed to serve?

In a Hungarian myth, Nimrod (the engineer of the Tower of Babel) begot two sons, Hunor and Magor, who migrated north to Caucasia/Magog and lived there. Modern Hungarians still freely claim descent from both Huns and Magyars. After Attila settled Hungary temporarily, he was followed a century later by the Avar Huns and, finally, a century after the Avar empire came to a close (in 796), the Magyar king, Arpad, became the patriarch of the modern Hungarians. Remember that name, “Arpad,” for his family line was considered gravely important.

In a Hungarian myth-like legend, a Magogite by the name of “Ugyek” had a son, “Almos,” who is destined to be a great conqueror toward the west [i.e. into Europe]…i.e. so as to finish the world-conquest job that Attila started but failed to complete. The reality (i.e. not in the legend) is that an Almos did exist in Hungarian history, and he was the father of Arpad, the founder of modern Hungary. Thus the legend was concocted after the facts to record and express some realities, while disguising others. What’s interesting is that Ugyek is said to be a descendant of “king Magog” of Ezekiel’s time, and from that tidbit we are urged into thinking that the myth’s author(s) was connecting the Hungarians to the Biblical Gog.

And finally, the story of these powerful secretive groups attempting to weave a spell over the peoples of the world to produce the illusion of the fulfillment of Christian prophecy necessitates a thorough infiltration of the Christian churches of the world: the great apostacy.

1Dispensational premillennialists hold that the nation of Israel will be saved and restored to a place of preeminence in the millennium. Thus, Israel will have a special function of service in the millennium that is different from that of the Church or saved Gentiles. … The Christians who reign with Christ (during the millennium) will all have been given eternal, glorified bodies, and will reign spiritually, while the Jews will own the world physically, and will live, marry, and die (although evincing incredible longevity), just as people have throughout the history of the world.” (http://www.gotquestions.org/dispensational-premillennialism.html)

2GotQuestions?org adds that the term, “Darbyism”, refers to the, “modern school of Bible prophecy interpretation called ‘dispensational premillennialism’. … The distinguishing and most controversial features in modern dispensational premillennialism are: (1) belief in a secret pre- seven year tribulation rapture of the Church, and (2) insistence on maintaining a careful distinction between God’s purpose for national Israel, and God’s purpose for the Church, in the divine plan of the ages … .”

3One would think that an association established outside the calcified halls of the institutionalized churches would freely follow the Holy Spirit; but apparently Darby ruled the Brethren with an iron hand. This is a conclusion drawn from Napolean Noel’s two-volume The History of the Brethren (Denver: W. F. Knapp, 1936) byhttp://www.hccentral.com/gkeys/darby.html

4Lacunza may have been influenced by a Jesuit predecessor, a Jesuit doctor of theology, Francisco Ribera (1537-1591) who put forward his “Futurist” interpretation of Daniel’s 70 weeks and the 1260 days of Revelation in his book, entitled In Sacrum Beati Ioannis Apostoli, & Evangelistiae Apocalypsin Commentarij. He concluded the book of Revelation had no application to the middle ages or the papacy, but applied to a future period of seven years just prior to the Second Coming of Christ.

5The directors names were J. F. Rutherford, A. N. Pierson, J. D. Wright, A. I. Ritchie, I. F. Hoskins, R. H. Hirsh.

6“It is interesting to note that Charles T. Russell (the Society’s founder) looked beyond the Bible in his quest for hidden knowledge. Although his membership as a Mason can’t been conclusively confirmed, his personal philosophy reflected Masonry, and Masonic influence can still be detected in today’s Watchtower organization. (For one example,) Masons practice a form of ritual magick they call “The Craft.” It is, therefore, no accident that the main JW periodicals are called “The Watchtower” and “Awake!” since the four Archangels summoned in Enochian magick inhabit Watchtowers and are known as the “Awake Ones” who monitor human evolution. This is ironic, since Jehovah’s Witnesses are very careful to avoid anything that has pagan origins.” Watchtower of Babel

7After a period of denial beginning in 1974, the Watch Tower has reiterated its stance against the Jewish banking power, saying that the 1933 Declaration made a “clear statement” of the position of the Watch Tower Society. (Ibid. page 12).

March 8, 2009

12 Reasons NOT To Expect a PRE-Trib Rapture

From: ToughIssues.org

“RAPTURE TIMING AND DISPENSATIONALISM”

By Darryl Eberhart

VIII. SUMMARY

1. As Pre-Trib writer and leader John Walvoord admits, there is NO SINGLE verse of Scripture that by itself clearly teaches the Pre-Trib Rapture.

2. Pre-Trib’ers FORCE ASSUMPTIONS on many key Bible verses – especially assuming that all references to “saints” and to the “elect” (who are being persecuted and martyred during the“end-times’ tribulation”) must refer to “those individuals who are saved” AFTER the Pre-Trib Rapture has taken place. (Again, how are all these folks getting saved during the “end-times’ tribulation” if the “Church” and the “restrainer” [i.e., the Holy Spirit according to Pre-Trib’ers] have been removed?)

3. We are NOT able to find one single instance in the New Testament where the Lord Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul, the Apostle Peter, or the Apostle John made any statement to the effect that “the church is to be evacuated off of planet Earth seven years PRIOR to the beginning of the end-times’ tribulation period”. Isn’t that a bit strange if the Pre-Trib Rapture prophetic viewpoint is the correct one?

4. Despite taking several texts OUT OF CONTEXT from a few early church fathers’ writings, the Pre-Trib’ers really CANNOT find any predominant, popular teaching that supports the Pre-Trib Rapture prophetic viewpoint in any era of Church history prior to the 1830s.

5. Many learned men of the Christian faith, such as John Bunyan, Charles Spurgeon, Charles Finney, John Knox, John Calvin, Martin Luther, George Whitefield, etc., were all solid Post-Tribbelievers!

6. The Pre-Trib Rapture is a very big “cash cow” for Pre-Trib writers. Yet, there are some Pre-Trib’ers who will admit that the Pre-Trib Rapture prophetic viewpoint is still a minorityviewpoint among Bible scholars. How can that be, you may ask, since so many prophecy books favor the “Pre-Trib” viewpoint? That is because so many of the major “Christian” publishing houses are, for the most part, CONTROLLED by “liberal Christians”. Post-Trib writers often find it extremely hard to get their books published by these publishing houses, because Pre-Trib”sells”. (Could that be because the Pre-Trib Rapture appeals to an “escapist” mentality? It’s that mentalityof “I sure don’t want to be here when the Antichrist takes over!” The Pre-Trib Rapture viewpoint appeals to our “flesh” – after all, who wants to face persecution?) Also, Dr. Robert “Bob” Gundry says that most of the professors [at Bible colleges] that he knows hold the Post-TribRapture viewpoint. He adds that even some of the professors at Bible colleges of the “Pre-Trib Rapture persuasion” hold the Post-Trib viewpoint, but cannot say so publicly for fear of losing their positions! Students who openly advocate Post-Trib at these “Pre-Trib Bible colleges” might not be allowed to graduate!

7. Despite the fact that many Pre-Trib’ers dislike author Dave MacPherson, they have NOT been able to disprove his well-documented findings that show that the Pre-Trib Rapture’s origins (as far as any public teaching) date back to the 1830s – and not earlier than that era! Nor have the Pre-Trib’ers been able to disprove MacPherson’s findings that the vast majority of the early church fathers taught that the church would go THROUGH the “end-times’ tribulation” – and lots of tribulation along the way to the “end-times’ tribulation”.

8. Public teaching of the Pre-Trib Rapture originated in the British Isles during the 1830s. (The Jesuits did some “futurist creativity” in the prophetic arena many years prior to that time.) ThePre-Trib “theory” was then “transported” to America a little bit later, and was popularized by the “Scofield Study Bible”.

9. To believe in the Pre-Trib Rapture, one must ignore several key Bible verses that speak directly against the Pre-Trib Rapture, such as John 17:15 where the Lord Jesus Christ Himself prays that the Father NOT take believers OUT OF the world – and I Thessalonians 4:16, 17 (which says that the Christians living at the time of Jesus Christ’s return are not caught up UNTILAFTER the “dead in Christ” are raised “FIRST“)!

10. Believing in the Pre-Trib Rapture, it seems to me, goes AGAINST the prevalent theme of those portions of the Bible that deal with tribulation and persecution. That prevalent theme is“preservation IN THE MIDST OF tribulation”. (Please recall the accounts of Daniel in the lions’ den, and of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego in the fiery furnace!)

11. To believe in the Pre-Trib Rapture, you have to ASSUME that you will be among a very “select group” of Christians who will not have to suffer horrible things during the “end-times’ tribulation”. Your “select group” excludes those MILLIONS of Christians from past centuries who were NOT “air evacuated” out of their tribulation and suffering, and the many individuals who get “saved” (i.e., are “born again”) during the “end-times’ tribulation”, and who will suffer martyrdom!

12. The Pre-Trib Rapture viewpoint, for the most part, seems to produce very BAD FRUIT – that is, it seems to have “neutralized” many Christians living today, causing them to sit back and to NOT fight evil. (And that’s, because, don’t you know, they won’t be here when things get really bad.) Could this “doctrine” have been specifically designed to “neutralize” Christians?

Read Entire Article

Videos on it all: Secret Pre-Trib Rapture Theory is False Doctrine.

 

There is so much more to this research. Only you can decide for you, all I can do is show you the proof. Please, please pray about this. This is not something to decide irrationally either but something that requires prayer and meditation.

God Bless You

Nate

 

Sources:

http://ritualabusefree.org/Pre-Trib%20Is%20False.htm

http://deeptruths.com/letters/matthew24.html

12 Reasons NOT To Expect a PRE-Trib Rapture

Pre-Trib, the Rosicrucian Rapture

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Age