~Entering The Fray: A Little Bit Of History~

**All scriptures are taken from the NKJV**

We live in the day of “designer” theology. The one size fits all absolutes of scripture have been diversified to appeal to an increasingly mixed crowd of “Jesus” followers or should we say “would be” Jesus followers, where the “would be’ers” have far outnumbered the “be’ers.” We have a whole armoire of various lines of thought that our “different strokes for different folks” pulpits ferry out to willing ears on a regular basis. What’s the end game? Well it’s to satisfy their walls and their picky oversight boards (who know far more about counting heads than “counting the cost”). We have “core theology”, “tribal theology”, “missional theology”, “distinctives theology”, “majors and minors theology”, “essentials and non-essentials theology”, “denominational theology”, etc. etcetera-ology, which plays into our understanding of true biblical theology and wreaks havoc with it. Scripture has become an eclectic dreamland for those who take a “designer” view of the Word of God. Those who want to promote their particular brand of thinking, or what have you, and are seeking to find a niche in an increasingly competitive church environment. Large swaths of church leadership are leaving the ministry of the Holy Spirit, as the board room is replacing the prayer room with popular so-called “good” business practices. Practices that look really impressive on a spread sheet. Yes, deception is fast becoming orthodoxy and those who don’t promote it are looking stranger and stranger all the time (welcome to the club). “Spread Sheet Christianity” with all the dots, dashes and $signs of what it takes to build bigger and better, or so we think?!

We are about as unprepared for our Lord’s Second Coming today
as first century Israel was for His first. LC

So in the midst of this, what do we think is coming? We are heading into one of the most important events in the history of planet earth. It is not only difficult to find anyone who really seems to grasp the significance of this, but a general sense of smugness and euphoria seems to prevail. We have got to understand the dangers involved in this hour and not ignore our vulnerability! To many of our pulpits have been very successful in providing “Christians” with loads of peace and safety justifications ignoring Jesus’ ultimatums of “Take heed that you not be deceived”, “Take heed, watch and pray” (Lk.21:8; Mk.13:33). We are about as unprepared for our Lord’s second coming today as first century Israel was for His first, and yet silence prevails! Again what do we think is coming with the impending return of Christ? When you rob biblical prophecy of its inherent jeopardy and vulnerability emphasis, you have nothing left but “happy” bless me, and of course bless you, messages.

Today’s troubles with truth in society are typically preceded
by the same troubles in the church, and until the latter gets it
figured out the former will not! LC

It’s a strange site to see the church erect more and more walls in the way of truth, promote more and more disagreements on what it is, become increasingly satisfied with what they personally believe, block out anything to the contrary, and yet promote themselves as truth seekers ready for Christ’s return. Today’s troubles with truth in society are typically preceded by the same troubles in the church. That bears repeating! Today’s troubles with truth in society are typically preceded by the same troubles in the church, and until the latter gets it figured out the former will not! That is extremely important to understand! Very, very typically when we see culture drifting the wrong direction the influence for it first appears in the church. If the church doesn’t take note of it and snuff it out right there, it can move on. The salt loses more of its savor! It’s the old adage of “the pot calling the kettle black”, and you got it, in this case the pot is the church. The apostle Paul said it this way,

“You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself?
You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You
who say, ‘do not commit adultery,’ do you commit adultery?
You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your
boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?
For ‘the name of God is blasphemed among the gentiles
because of you,’ as it is written.” Ro.2:21-24

This situation, and much more, will not be left untouched at our Lord’s return. There will be a “cleansing of the temple” and just as the “religious” had a hard time with that in the New Testament, many “religious” will have a hard time with it when He returns. Prepare yourselves! The unexpected is coming!! The excuse factory is in full swing! Moving on.

The momentum of the churches theology today is moving further and further away from readiness, emphasizing viewpoints rather than clarity. How oblivious we seem to be to all of this. We just don’t understand that there is a cost to this ongoing debate. Truth doesn’t wait around for a winner and it doesn’t go into neutral just before the event happens!! It moves forward regardless of who’s left behind. The closer we get to the return of Christ, the further the church seems to drift from understanding the implications. Soon it will be too late. Let’s string out some words here- If the coming of Christ were predictable, conventional, popular, clear and unassuming there would be very little jeopardy. But, as it is, Simeon’s words to Mary regarding the future of her child Jesus, rest heavy on this generation,

“Then Simeon blessed them , and said unto Mary His mother,
‘Behold, this child is appointed for the falling and rising up of
many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against.’”
Lk.2:34

“The falling and rising up of many in Israel, and a sign which will be spoken against” is upon us again. Beware, beware you servants of the Lord! His coming will not be according to expectation. Jesus told the church of Sardis (which time we are in),

“Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast
and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as
a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you..”
Rev.3:3

The ambiguity expressed by those words “and you will not know” is everywhere today. By the time Jesus came in the first century, Israel had brought in so many traditions and commandments of men they no longer had the clarity necessary to recognize Him, and here we are again. Can we see that? Jesus said,

“These people draw near me with their mouth, and honor Me
with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And in vain they
worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”
Matt.15:8-9

And so it is today. We need clarity!

As has been said in a previous article, this subject is so convoluted with so many viewpoints what shouldn’t be that confusing has become so. The loss of apostolic and prophetic authority over the church has triple complicated this subject, and biblical truth in general, with the absence of a “final voice” over doctrine. In fact, we not only have the absence of a “final voice”, we have the absence of understanding the need of it and what that means. The very biblical “..the things which I write to you are the Lord’s commandment” spoken by the apostle Paul to the Corinthians (1Cor.14:37), carries a clarifying authority that has been lost in our current church system, and may I add, isn’t wanted. As has been said in other articles, truth has become private, personal, independent, relative to what we want to believe. It serves us, not the other way around. “Whatever makes your boat float” and all the other whacky subjective maxims of our post apostolic foolishness are out of control today. “You may believe that but I don’t”, “that’s your interpretation not mine” have landed us in a quagmire of relativism that now governs the thinking of the church; ideology over theology, symbolism over substance. Biblical authority has bowed the knee to the authority of personal opinion and denominational convictions of one sort or another. We don’t even know what biblical authority really is any more in this environment of “you may believe that but I don’t.” This is costly stuff ladies and gentlemen and it needs to be resolved soon.

So all that said let’s move on. Enter John Nelson Darby in the 1830’s, and as the mantra goes, this doctrine (the Rapture, and especially that of a pre-tribulation rapture) was originated by him and popularized through the Plymouth Brethren movement he was associated with in that era. And then we must also add a few other individuals such as Cyrus Scofield and his Scofield Study Bible, Edward Irving a Presbyterian minister of that era, and Margaret Macdonald and her visions and utterances; all three of which are usually included with John Darby as early pioneers of this rapture teaching. But hold on right there! Who says it was originated by him? We don’t need to go down that path as so many have. Let’s make something really clear here because it needs to be dealt with, and I am amazed it seemingly has flown under the churches radar for so long. John Nelson Darby and these early individuals are brought up by the naysayers, the objectors, not the faithful! Why oh why do so many in the church give these naysayers any credibility? Please don’t play the fool to these people! Their claim that Darby and gang invented this doctrine of the rapture, and specifically the pre-tribulation rapture, is nothing more than a straw man argument fit for a match. Darby and his promoters actually had nothing to do with the origins of this doctrine. They merely rediscovered it from scripture, I said, they merely rediscovered it, just as Martin Luther rediscovered the truth of salvation by faith through grace.

Please ask yourself the question. Why isn’t Martin Luther castigated for trying to invent something new? The doctrine of salvation by faith through grace went underground shortly after the apostolic period of the first century (as well as a truckload of other truths). It wasn’t really reintroduced to the world until Martin Luther in the sixteenth century. So I repeat, why isn’t he castigated for trying to invent something new?? Where are his critics? Well they’re just not there. Instead he is largely recognized as the great reformer of 1517 who reintroduced the biblical doctrine of salvation to the very Roman Catholic dominated era that he lived in. Hail Martin Luther and the reformers of that era. So why not hail John Nelson Darby and his fellow reformers of their early era as well? Why the attacks against him? I repeat, think seriously about this, why the attacks against him?? There is something very sinister going on behind the scenes here that has to be recognized! It has the devil’s signature all over it!

The apostle Paul faced a similar assault in his day on the same topic. Now isn’t that interesting? It was Paul, Silas and Timothy (1Thes.1:1) who first presented this truth to the Thessalonian church of that era. The scripture says,

“For this WE say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who
are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no
means precede those who are asleep…we who are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to
meet the Lord in the air.” 1Thes.4:15-18

But then we find out that by the time Paul writes his second epistle to them (probably only a couple of months later), this truth was already under assault. Paul says,

“Now brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon
shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter,
as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one
deceive you by any means….” 2Thes.2:1-3

The devil is obviously trying the nuclear option on this one. It is that important. He has all the votes of hell behind him, and there joining him at the ballot box are traitors who are otherwise known as “believers”. That’s right, the so-called friends of Jesus are carrying back stabbing knives in their linens. Hypocrites, even as they are today. So amazingly, just in a matter of months, this truth was being challenged and undermined.

Satan so undermined New Testament Israel on this matter that the wealthy, aristocratic priesthood of the Sadducees (the full priesthood of the day), who ruled the Jewish governing council, the Sanhedrin; controlled and performed the temple sacrifices and were in cahoots with Rome- rejected any thought of a resurrection! Not only did they reject the idea of a physical resurrection completely but they didn’t believe in life after death at all. Yes you heard me right! The priesthood of Christ’s day not only rejected the idea of a physical resurrection but actually denied life after death?? Talk about a broken priesthood? Anyway, they were the primary driving force behind our Lord’s crucifixion. The Pharisees, who represented the other side of the ruling body of the Jews, at least believed in a bodily resurrection but their hatred of Jesus was around other issues.

New Testament Israel was so compromised by the time the Messiah came on the scene that even their priesthood (the Sadducees) rejected the idea of a resurrection and even life after death, Amazing! How is it possible that this priestly group went all the way through Old Testament history and came out so broken? And how is it possible that these individuals were not only in charge of the temple worship and sacrifices but a large part of the teaching of the people? Obviously their constant appetite for rebellion against God for so many years had taken a huge toll. Add to this the confusion brought about by the opposing position of the Pharisees believing in a bodily resurrection and an afterlife, and is it any wonder the people of Christ’s day were so confused? A confusion that not only cost them so many of their lives but their nation as well. It’s not that hard to see that such a state of affairs existing at the time of our Lord’s arrival was an orchestration and manipulation of events by the devil to undermine Christ’s identity, ministry and teaching! And obviously he greatly succeeded.

Now let’s add our day. How is it again possible that after about two thousand years post Christ’s first coming, the church has found itself trailing down the same path in utter confusion once again? We have pre-trib., mid-trib., post-trip., no trib., millennial, amillennial, preterite, futurist, literal, figurative etc. fiasco throughout the body of Christ today. All led by Christian leaders, pastors and teachers who thrive on the confusion and literally rebel at any thought of resolving it! It’s too personally costly, as they think! Yes my dear reader, welcome to the ranks of fools who are aggressively digging their own graves (and your’s) and enjoying it!! Wake up church!

What was clearly one of the most important revelations of Christ’s ministry has been assaulted with the enemies confusion all the way down through New Testament history. Think not dear reader that this confusion will abate. The odds are to high for our enemy to lay low in this hour! Deception is every where today especially on this topic and so very few see it. Will you?

So what’s my point in this? We are talking about one of the most important doctrines of the Christian faith; clearly demonstrating Christ’s victory over death and hell to be demonstrated in the believer. Satan has not and will not leave this untouched without a major campaign to undermine and defeat it! Due to this it needs to be noted that the enemies assault against this subject is all throughout so much of the confusion and controversy surrounding the issue today. It should be the first thing noted before we squabble about something else people! But we ignorantly go on with all our squabbles anyway.

So back to John Nelson Darby in the 1830’s. He was singled out as introducing a false teaching previously unknown to the church. BUT IT WASN’T previously unknown to the church any more than Martin Luther’s revelation of salvation by faith was previously unknown to the church. Both were reestablishing biblical truth. Nevertheless, it is all too often said that the rapture (especially the pre-tribulation rapture) is a relatively new teaching and (note this) isn’t supported by any of the “church fathers.” So let’s ask a question here. What is that supposed to mean!? What do we do with a statement like that? I mean if the “church fathers”, as they are called by these people, didn’t believe in it, why should we believe in it today, right? Let’s pull out of the rhetoric for a minute here and ask a far more legitimate question. Who are these people being referred to as the “church fathers”? Where did they get their status ? Who promoted them and why are we supposed to accept what they think? It’s amazing to this writer that so many historians, as well as so many of our pulpits and the schools that train them, have bowed the knee and accepted this argument carte blanche. A little scrutiny might be in order! The only “fathers”, I repeat, the only fathers the church has ever known and ever will know are the founders of the New Testament church, the apostles: those that scripture validates. It was they who taught what we have come to call the rapture. But the individuals being pointed to here are not among them!? They are referring to people such as Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp, Hermas, Iranaeus, Athanasius, Augustine and others. These individuals cover the pages of so many church histories and are accepted as “church fathers” throughout so much of the church today, but they are not. Further, many of these characters represent post apostolic fakes, apostates who drove the New Testament train off the tracks. To even think about giving these people such status is not only shocking but incredibly dangerous! Again, this is nothing more than an extremely transparent attempt to undermine the scriptures!! Note this statement from Miller’s Church History,

“The apostolic fathers, as they are called, such as Clement,
 Polycarp, Ignatius and Barnabas, were the immediate followers of the inspired apostles. They had listened to their instructions, labored with them in the Gospel, and probably had been familiarly acquainted with them. But, not withstanding the high privileges which they enjoyed
as scholars of the apostles, they very soon departed from the doctrines which had been committed
to them, especially as to church government.”
-Miller’s Church History; Andrew Miller pg.11

Take note of Miller’s words “such as” because there were several others who were also brought into this “special” company, which as was stated above, they absolutely are not! This post apostolic apostasy is also highlighted by the following statement,

“Once the apostles (the original apostles) had died, however, a
revolution took place.” 

-The expansion of Christianity in the first three centuries Adolf Harnack pg.66

So under the predominantly accepted title of “church fathers” these individuals have been given authority equal to that of scripture. So much of the church has been taken in by this ploy, noting the silence about the rapture as authoritative. Nothing could be further from the truth. The return of Christ for the church and the resurrection and rapture of both living and dead saints is clearly taught in scripture by the true fathers of the church ie. the apostles. Paul’s epistle to the Thessalonians is one of the most graphic examples (1Thes.4:15-18). Much more next time.

Luther Canon

Sola Scriptura