MidnightCall Magazine
In this issue:
- Hear theWord of the Lord — By Thomas Lieth
- FirstThessalonians 3 and the Rapture — By Dr. Ron J. Bigalke Jr.
- Popular Prophecy:CheckingDogmaTwice — By Wilfred Hahn
News From Israel MagazineIn this issue:
- Why Jerusalem is Jewish — By Arno Froese
- ON THE HORIZON:
- Analysis: Birthright Needs to Transform on Larger Scale
- Israel Praises Turkish Authority for Preventing Hezbollah Attack
- Relationship with American Jews Is Changing
- A Festival of Discrimination—Funded by the EU
- The Cyrus Cylinder
Different Ministry?
Dear Editor:
I have been saved and baptized in the Holy Spirit since 1974. I have read the Bible from cover to cover several times, and each time I read, the Holy Spirit teaches me something else that I didn’t know before.
My sister, who has been saved for four years and studies her Bible as I do now, told me what she believed about the Rapture. She and I have never discussed the Bible before she got saved, because she would not listen to any “bible thumper” on anything religious.
My sister told me that she believed she would be here during the tribulation to teach unbelievers the Bible and not to take the mark. She said she was learning the Bible at a rapid rate since she and her husband were asked to leave the church they attended because they disagreed with the preaching of “tickling the ears” that was taking place since the old pastor had resigned. She said no Scripture was being preached, only stories about the Bible and the military life of the man that was chosen to replace the pastor who left. She began to tell me the Lord had taught them about the Mark of the Beast, the people who are lost due to the “church” teaching error, the falling away, lack of love in the church for one another and lost people. She said her heart burned for the lost to know Jesus, and she wanted to tell everybody all the time.
I told her all that was wonderful to hear, but why did she believe she would be here during the tribulation to teach unbelievers if she had accepted Jesus as her Savior and was baptized in the Holy Spirit; she was a member of the body of Christ and Jesus’ bride. I believe that the Rapture would take us out to the marriage supper of the Lamb right before or at the moment the New World Order was to be set up and that the tribulation was for the Jews [not the bride] and those left behind because the Tribulation was Jacob’s Trouble and was seven years long.
She just smiled and said, “No, that is not the way I believe and I know it is the Lord because He has called me to this ministry of teaching.” She said, “I believe that Jesus died for my sins and His blood covers me and I am going to be here to teach sinners the truth so they won’t go to Hell or take the Mark of the Beast. I am not afraid of the Antichrist or anything else because I belong to Jesus and I will be protected through it all.”
I studied the “raptures” in the Bible and came up with this. Enoch was taken by God—rapture; Elijah was taken by God—rapture; Jesus was resurrected and walked around on earth after his resurrection, and he was taken up in a cloud bodily after the resurrection—rapture; the Church will be raptured at the beginning of the Tribulation; the two witnesses will be resurrected and raptured in front of millions in the middle of the Tribulation; and a lot of people believe they will be raptured at the end of the Tribulation.
Thank you for letting me express my opinion from experience with a sister who is born again by the blood of the Lamb. May God bless all believers with love and trust for each other and the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the believer in Jesus Christ. I am beginning to believe that number is smaller than we think.
J. Beaver, GA
Answer: Thank you for your testimony.
There is no evidence in Scripture that certain believers, part of the body of Christ, will not participate in the Rapture because they have a different ministry. The Bible does not contradict itself; thus it is necessary in this case to try the Spirit (1 John 4:1).
After the Rapture of the Church, there will be the testimony of the 144,000 Israelis (Revelation 7) and the two witnesses (Revelation 11). The Church is no longer present on earth.
Your sister is also in error with the statement, “His blood covers me.” The blood of Christ does no such thing. That was under the Old Testament; the blood of animals served as a temporary covering, “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). The precious blood does not hide sin but takes it away: “And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin” (1 John 3:5). Hebrews 9:12 reads: “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”
The Church’s great commission is to be a light. This light is the indwelling Holy Spirit. That is why the Lord commanded us: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Unfortunately, we often follow the instruction in the reverse direction; we show off our works, thus hide the light.
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