Once Upon A Pre-tribber Part II
Yes, Daniel and John along with the entire
Early Church knew that there were things that needed to be in place before the beginning
of the 70th Week of Daniel and the Second Coming. Jesus listed many
of them in Matthew 24:3-31 which is the beginning of the Olivet Discourse and
the best place to find answers to the chronological unfolding of the end times.
But this chapter is set aside by
Pre-tribbers because they say it is for the Jews only…curious theory to
say the least. This action by Pre-tribbers is called “The Jewish Waste Paper Basket”
because it is where troublesome Bible truths are tossed by Pre-tribbers when
they don’t align with their error-filled theory!
When the PTRT was born in the 1830’s it
was soundly refuted by Bible scholars of that day. Dr. S.P.Tregelles was the
most notable Bible language and prophecy scholar of the nineteenth century who
wrote a small but accurate treatise on the subject called: “The Hope of
Christ’s Second Coming”. One of the twenty-four chapters in this book is called
“The Jewish Waste Paper Basket”. He also was reputed to be the go-to-guy on
prophecy for Charles Haddon Spurgeon during his ministry in England which was
also Tregelles home.
Tregelles clearly documents the numerous
errors found within the PTRT and one of his primary concerns was that there
were and would be false teachers within the Church. His concern has exploded
into reality as C.I.Scofield merged the notes of John Darby, PTRT founder, into
his study Bible which has now flooded the western Church having also been
adopted and promoted by Lewis Sperry Chafer founder of Dallas Theological
Seminary.
And, in the process they ignored Tregelles
work and eleven of the thirteen Early Church Fathers who wrote of their belief
that the Church would experience the persecution of the Antichrist. They also
set aside the fact that the majority of believers through the centuries since
the Lord’s ascension have held to a Post-tribulation rapture doctrine which is
also what I believe the Bible teaches based on Matthew 24:29-31 where the
Scripture clearly affirms this truth.
Within the last few decades a modification
to the traditional Post-tribulation rapture doctrine has emerged through the
studies of Robert Van Kampen who is now with the Lord. His book “The Sign” and
an additional work by Marvin Rosenthal called “The Pre-wrath Rapture of the
Church” have cleared the prophetic air concerning the timing of the rapture by
presenting the fact that the Great Tribulation will be shortened by the Lord
according to Matthew 24:21. It is shortened by the rapture, when we, the
saints, will be literally rescued from the intense persecution of the
Antichrist!
They labeled their position as Pre-wrath because
that is what the Bible teaches from cover to close. God never causes His people
to suffer through His supernatural judgment of the wicked as witnessed by Noah
and his family and Lot and his family (Luke 17:22-37). Therefore, the rapture
will be Pre-wrath, NOT Pre-trib (I Thessalonians 1:10, 5:9).
Back to my trucker friend who did not
stick around to hear the positive news concerning the Bible Truths just
discussed. Should the Lord choose to send him back to our Mobile Chapel the
encounter might not be as brief as the first, but, this is the nature of the
ministry of a Chaplain in the trucking business where the “Congregation” is
fluid and the encounters are brief, but
often very rewarding! Just the other evening, John, from Ontario, Canada got
saved as he was searching for truth not knowing how to be saved. Please, pray
he will grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord!
Also, pray for our ministry of literature, witnessing, preaching
and discipleship which is the main focus of the work, as I was telling my
son-in-law just the other day, I have not preached one ‘planned’ message on
prophecy since this work has begun. Our emphasis is primarily upon discipleship
which is “The Great Omission”…except for the impromptu message given to the
Pre-trib Trucker just mentioned during this brief Bible teaching encounter!
Chaplain
Larry Wolfe I-85 Exit 35 SC
thepilotswolfman@gmail.com
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