Refuting The Thirty-One (31) Silence Facts About The Rapture

I remember reading a forwarded message on Whatsapp having to speak on a Rapture that was dawn upon us. I went through the 31 facts about the rapture that the author penned down and reviewed them in the light of scriptures and decided to blog this so that we can also see if this line with God’s plan or a man’s fables.

To be honest, I was quite shocked with some of the assertions written as most of it is just simply aimed at producing fear and uncertainty in the hearts of people and also get them prepared with moral works to earn and keep salvation.

Now I will post his statement and my rebuttal to every point he raised. I hope you enjoy this.

 

1. It is going to be the next greatest event that will shock all the continents of the world.

Response: The greatest expectation is the spread of the knowledge of the glory of God all over the earth. The conditions of earth fully mirrors that of heaven.

 

2. It is going to take place suddenly, abruptly, unexpectedly, without warning and without prior notice.

Response: The expansion of the kingdom is already on even beyond what we can fully measure as to its impact.

 

3. There shall be no second version of the event.

Response: There will also not be any first version of the future rapture.

 

4. A greater percentage of Christians may be taken unawares.

Response: A greater percentage of Christians have already been deceived expecting it to happen.

 

5. Careless Christians who miss the event will have no other similar gracious opportunity.

Response: The gracious opportunity of salvation is available for all living.

 

6. The event shall have no regard or respect for ecclesiastical titles or church leadership positions.

Response: The only thing that has no respect for such is the grace of God. All are grace mates.

 

7. It shall be a day when the sheep shall be separated from the goats.

Response: That judgment was between the Israel of the flesh and the Spiritual Israel in the ad70 destruction of Jerusalem in ad70.

 

8. The day shall differentiate between the Broad Way Christians from the Narrow Way Christians.

Response: The broad way that Jesus talked about was for the Jews who held on the law as against the few Jewish Christians who embraced Christianity.

 

9. The day shall separate sincerity from hypocrisy.

Response: None of them proves who is saved. Our sincerity was not good enough for our salvation.

 

10. The day shall differentiate between those who harbour secret sins from those who abhor secret sins.

Response: There is no Christian who understands how he received forgiveness in Christ through the grace of God who would enjoy living a sinful life.

 

11. The day shall separate those whose lives are hidden in Christ from those who are hiding in the church.

Response: Those whose lives are hidden in Christ is based on the finished work and not based on denomination or affiliation.

 

12. The day shall show a glaring, clear, conspicuous, demarcation between Christians who walk on the path of holiness from those who walk on the path of worldliness.

Response: Outward show of holiness or other forms of morality can still be achieved without knowing God.

 

13. It shall be a day of double emotion: joy for some and unimaginable, indescribable, uncontrollable regrets for others.

Response: Those moments will only surface when people make wrong decisions about their lives on earth.

 

14. It shall be a day of surprises- some “Big names” may miss the flight while some “Less known” may be on board.

Response: There’s no flight of such nature programed by God to distinguish status.

 

15. Another surprise may be that a man or woman who had faithfully served the Lord for many years may defile his or her garment a few minutes before the sound of that summoning trumpet and miss the flight while a notorious sinner may surrender his or her life to Jesus within the same time frame and go to heaven.

Response: How can anyone defile the free gift of righteousness when his/her “sinnerhood” could not stop the work of salvation.

 

16. This event may happen now, today, this week, this month, this year or next year!.

Response: Don’t bother speculating. It will never happen.

 

17. Wise Christians, like the five virgins that took extra oil, are expected to get ready, yes, to get prepared.

Response: The virgins were the Jews who were not prepared to enter the kingdom as they remained with their knowledge of the old covenant.

 

18. After the event, all those who are bitter against one another, malicious, unforgiving, jealous, arrogant, haters, hypocrites, drunkards, fornicators, adulterers, adulteresses, murderers with weapons and murderers with tongue etc, shall have enough time to continue in their trade.

Response: Sadly the scriptures never describe this to happen in the kingdom age. We are told that the kingdom will increase in glory and not gory.

 

19. When the event is over there shall be revival among those who have chosen to stay behind not because there will be a second chance, no, but because the reality of the event would have struck them like a thunderbolt. But they will have to pay with their own blood.

Response: If our blood has to be used to pay for our salvation then it means the new covenant will also be replaced still it wont be eternal. Oh wait! Hebrews says it is eternal.

 

20. When the event is over, those who are left behind shall no longer be safe to worship in their gigantic, fanciful and multi-billion Dollars/Cedis cathedrals. Instead they shall seek safety in caves, bushes and abandoned and dilapidated but hidden structures.

Response: The Jews were the ones who had to hide in caves when their city was leveled down by the Romans.

 

21. When this great event is over, each time those who will miss their flight manage to gather for worship, they will pay attention to only one sermon- whether they gather in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North or South America; the sermon will only centre on “How to Meet the Divine Standard and Join the Other Saints”.

Response: Jesus is no longer the focus of the message. This proves it to be a hogwash.

 

22. It is also worthy to note that those who will be left behind will never have any business with comedians at their altars anymore. No! There shall no longer be gatherings for entertainments. Whenever, they manage to gather, it shall always be for serious religious business only.

Response: If you have any problem with comedy then stay at home and pray.

 

23. The prayer pattern of those who will be left behind will also undergo a radical change. They will not be praying for things anymore. They will only be praying for strength to withstand the tortures of the Anti-Christ and die bravely to join the other saints. None will be praying for jobs, marriages, etc.

Response: The principles of prayer is centred on the relationship that we have with the Father who knows all our needs and through his grace has made everything available for us.

 

24. It is equally worthy of note that some of those who will miss their flight will not be able to endure the torture of the Anti Christ. They will receive the mark of the beast and thereby be doomed forever.

Response: I will spend more time here.

There is not even one scripture that describes the personality of a man known as the Antichrist. As for the mark of the beast, you should probably calculate and know that it is summed up in a man’s name. John the revelator used what is known as Gematria. Many scholars have recognized the consonants of “Neron Caesar” in Hebrew add up to 666. That is why he asks for wisdom on this.

To understand the term antichrist, we must first understand the context of John’s writings. During the time of the first century Church, there was a cult system called Gnosticism. They taught that the spirit was good and the physical/emotional realms were evil, therefore Jesus could not have come to earth in an actual physical body. They taught that Jesus came to earth only as an ethereal spirit being. This teaching is heretical because it negates the truth of Jesus shedding His human blood for the remission of sin. The Gnostics gained so many followers and was a threat to the foundation of the early church.

This why John writes;

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world (1 John 4:1-3).

Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist (2 John 1:7).

Any person who denies that Jesus came in the flesh, which is what the Gnostics of the first century were doing, is operating in the spirit of antichrist. The antichrist isn’t a person; it is a belief system, that is known as Gnosticism.

 

25. When the ready saints are gone, all our denominational walls of partition will collapse. The man or woman who use to worship in The Redeemed Christian Church of God, for instance, will hide in the same place with those who worship in Christ Embassy, Church of God Mission, Deeper Life. Assemblies of God, Word Aflame, Action Chapel, Winners Chapel, Lighthouse Chapel etc and nobody will remember to claim superiority anymore because then they will be facing a common enemy.

Response: The walls of denomination only fall away when the gospel of grace is embraced and we get to see each other through the unconditional love of the Father.

 

26. When this event is over, each time believers who will miss their flight manage to gather anywhere for worship, there will be an atmosphere of sobriety. This rowdiness we witness today shall be no more.

Response: Sincere worship is simply new testament worship. This is against the backdrop of the Old Testament where lambs were slain at the altar with an earthly priesthood.

27. There shall also be a radical change in the attitude of those who will miss their flight towards Bible study. What we have now is an attitude characterized by a high degree of nonchalance and indifference, but when the ready saints are gone, those who will be left behind will begin to take their bible study seriously.

Response: If the fear of death is the motivator towards Bible study what do you think people would learn when they sit down? Do you honestly think that they will learn how to be established in the grace of God then if it were to happen?

 

28. All the teens and youths who come to church to please their parents will repent after this great event; yes, they will begin to seek God for themselves.

Response: Actually they should learn to do so now. Many are already trapped because they cant find Jesus in the covens of religions where they find themselves.

 

29. When the event is over, all those who will do any form of business in the schools, hospitals, banks, etc, will have to bear the mark of beast (666) or be hunted down and killed like common criminals.

Response: The mark of the beast is the number of a man. It was a way of calculating his name that John was telling the church of the first century. This was fulfilled as there are numerous records to prove the severe persecution of the first church in the days of Emperor Nero that fits the description as given by John.

 

30. One of the gains of this reminder is that there may be someone reading this piece today who will take a firm decision to ensure that he/she gets on board that celestial flight travelling to glory.

Response: One of the positive for someone reading this is to rethink this man-made theory and go back to what God wants; For us to be established in the grace of God and present ourselves to our world as the lights shining in the darkness that surrounds them.

 

31. However, one of the greatest tragedies of this reminder is that there may be someone too who is reading this piece today but who will see no need to heed this warning. A tragedy indeed!

Response: Sadly there may also be someone who will read this and insist that the rapture must happen even without a clear scriptural stand on it. Hopefully someone else would consider if this piece is written in honesty and has challenged his/her thinking in this direction to rethink this “rapture” thing and rediscover the kingdom.