The Secret of the “Secret Rapture”

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The Second Coming of Christ, the Day of our Lord and the day of our deliverance from the pain and sufferings of this Earth, is the most awaited moment of all faithful Christians in the world.

The Lord who left His majestic state in heaven and chose to live in sufferings for our own sake will come in full glory accompanied by thousands and thousands of His angels to meet us in the clouds and be with Him forever in the kingdom of His Father. Everyone is excited to witness this glorious period. Everyone is hoping to see their Lord face to face in the midst of the firmament. But the glory of this awaited moment is not the same as the moment being waited by those who think that the rapture will happen secretly. Yes, there are Christians who are deceived by the belief that the saints, during the rapture, will suddenly disappear prior to the tribulation, and that the world is unaware of what is happening to them.

Christ said to His disciples, “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” (Matthew 24:27). The lightning that cometh out of the east and shineth unto the west is not a secret event. Both east and west will see the glorious coming of the Son of God and He shall send His angels with great sound of a trumpet to gather together His elects from one end of heaven to the other. Our beloved apostle Paul discussed the event in the same manner when he said, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (I Thess. 4:16-17) This verse reveals that the coming of Christ and the rapture of the saints will never occur in silence or secrecy.

The theory of the Secret Rapture, as how its believers called it, is a product of a

Jesuit Fr. Manuel Diaz Lacunza

doctrine developed by the Catholic Jesuits to counter the Reformation. To confuse Protestants and prevent them from believing that the papacy is the fulfillment of the apocalyptic antichrist, the Jesuits Francisco Ribera, Robert Bellarmine and Manuel de Lacunza formulated a teaching placing the coming of the antichrist somewhere in the future and not in their present period as the historicists believe. Lacunza used the penname Rabbi Ben-Ezra to conceal his Catholic affiliation and that the Protestants will welcome his writings where the anti-Reformation teachings are contained.  The Scottish clergyman Edward Irving embraced the Jesuit teaching, especially of Lacunza who said that the coming of Christ is divided into two stages where the first stage is the coming of Christ for His church to save them from the arrival of the antichrist. This is the first coming where the (secret) rapture will takes place. Irving preached it with the support of the alleged rapture vision of Miss Margaret McDonald. The secret rapture belief was popularized by John Nelson Darby and then by Cyrus Scofield in the United States.

The belief of the Secret Rapture brought false hope for many sincere Christians in our time. It misrepresented the love and characteristic of God toward His elects. It separates us from the real focus of the great controversy between truth and error and brought us more into the snares of Satan. Aside from being blinded from who is really the enemy of our soul, these people were imparted with fear and weakness in front of the trials that will soon purify the Church of God. The readers must understand that as Christ prevailed over the wickedness of this world, we must also prevail before we receive the inheritance and the crown of life prepared for the saints.

Jehovah’s Witnesses Demonizing Higher Education

(THIS IS A VIDEO TRANSCRIPT. Speech of Gerrit Lösch, member of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s witnesses, given in Italian during a special JW convention on May 22, 2005 in the city of Monza, near Milan, Italy.)

Gerrit Lösch, member of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses

“Going to college or not may be a reflexion of your faith or lack of your faith, and it may indicate how present the imminence of the Great Tribulation in your mind.

What is undoubtable is that the time left is reduced, as Paul said I Corintians 7:29. If you are currently going to college, why don’t you meditate in prayer on the possibility of dropping out and doing something better? But for us, who scrutinize of the meaning of the world events in the light of Bible prophecy, there are more worthy reasons for not putting worldly career first in our lives. We could liken ourselves to someone who sees a building with a sign that reads, “The company is running out of business.” Would you apply for a job there? Of course not. And if we were working for such a company, we would wisely look for a job elsewhere. Well, on all the institutions of this world lies a sing reading imminent liquidation. The end is near. Yes, the Bible assures us that the world is passing away. Therefore we will be wise, and we will not imitate those who are an integral part of it.

Now you have listened to the advise. What will you do now? Some advocate going to college by citing the example of some elders’ children who are attending college or that did so (in the past). We are not able nor willing to tell you what you should do. Your parents and you should make the decision. We are not the masters over your faith. However, the Faithful and Discreet Slave has the responsibility to warn against spiritual dangers and to encourage to put Kingdom interest first. So, the Slave discourages from going to college for a long period of time.

I have often times heard experiences of individuals who were about to complete their college programs, and who dropped out when they learned the truth. Some other baptized individuals have turned down scholarships. What will you do? What decision will you make? Will you refuse or not? Will you get a university education or not? You will be accountable to Jehovah for this. We would like to praise those in the audience who dropped out the college when they heard the truth, (as we praise) those who other listening to this talk will make the same decision. Maybe you still want to advocate the possibility of going to college. You may say, “You see Brother X going to college, and now he is serving in the congregation and is also a pioneer. “ True, he may survived college, so to speak. But what follows is a true experience of a young man who suffered from a compulsive disorder which made him wash his hands over and over again, even 100 times a day. This disorder discouraged him so much, that one day he decided to commit suicide. He bought a rifle, put it in his mouth and pulled the trigger. The bullet, however, didn’t kill him but instead perforated the part of his brain that was responsible for his compulsive disorder. He survived and after that he managed to live a normal life. Yes, its true, he survived… he survived. But would you recommend that other people imitate what that young man did? Similarly, some have survived college, but would you recommend that to others?

Instead of investing in a higher education, it would be advisable to grow in the knowledge of Jehovah. In order to start knowing the Bible better, we must read the Bible every day. Every day. Are we going to do that?”

A Better Place than Earth

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And God said, “Let there be light” and there was light.

He gave borders for water that cause rivers to appear and that the sea whose struggling waves will never overflow the dry ground. He clothed the ground with fresh green grass and different kinds of plants whose flowers seemed to be competing with their beautiful colors and fragrance. He made trees of different kinds, bearing variety of fruits that provide nutrients for those who will eat. He made different kinds of animals, big and small, flying and creeping, jumping and swimming, all for the benefit of the man He will create. He cause mountains and hills to rise; forms of land that declare the greatness of their Creator. He made the sun to give heat and light in day, and moon and stars to shine at night. He provides rain to water every trees and plants, and air to sustain the life of everyone. And then on the sixth-day, He created man according to His image, the crown of His creation. This is how the Lord God formed and beautified man’s habitation; a planet perfect in beauty and order; without single stain of anything that is unpleasant in the sight of God… until sin and death entered.

 After the entrance of sin, Adam and Eve, with all of their sons and descendants suffered its consequences; misery, pain, sickness and death. Before his own eyes, Adam witnessed all the terrible results of his own transgression. Grass and leaves withered, beautiful flowers faded, animals and beasts became no more subjected to him, and his physical stature and endurance and moral and intellectual power were all deteriorated, and the world was filled with misery of every type. And upon the earth, God declared, “Curse is the ground for thy sake.” The earth, with all the things in its surface, suffered with that curse. Thus, as plants, animals, and man die, the earth will fade also. Isaiah said,

 “The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.

 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate…

 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.

The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.” (Isaiah 24:5-6, 19-20)

 The earth is the habitation of life, but it is a temporal life, a life that bound to die. All things in it are not eternal. They will all pass away. The withering of grass, the drying of rivers, the death of both animals and man, all these suggesting that the earth is a temporary habitation. Paul stated, “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (II Corinthians 4:18) This was the reason why Christ taught His disciples to love not their own lives more than the cause of God neither seek friendship with the world for it is enmity against God, but rather seek those things that are eternal; things that will never fade; things that are prepared by God for those who loved Him. Yes, there is a place, an earth, prepared by God; New Heavens and a New Earth unstained by wickedness or death but a place where righteousness and beauty dwell. “And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.” “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” (Rev. 21:5; Isa. 65:17) There shall be no hunger, neither thirst anymore; neither the light of the sun, nor any heat, and God shall wipe away all tears in the eyes of the saved.

 This earth is not worthy to be inherited by the saints. The everlasting life that they will receive upon the return of Christ is not worthy to enjoy in a place consumed by curse and misery. Things that are eternal are always for eternal things, and this is what the saints should always look for unlike the others whose hope rest only in this earth. By leaning with temporal things, and by hoping for the things that are seen, hopes for heaven and eternity seemed to be an illusion for them. But this is not what Christ had taught. The apostle said, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Col. 3:1-2)

 Try to look upon the great patriarchs of old such as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who, in spite of the rich land that God promised to them, they choose to become sojourners in that land because they look not to an earthly inheritance but that which is in heaven.

 “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:

For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God…

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.

And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.

But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.” (Heb. 11:8-10, 13-16)

Are Christians Already Saved?

The thickness of the Bible reveals that salvation is not just as easy as eating peanut – this is what I learned when I was in the midst of reading it verse by verse.  Salvation, unlike what others think about it, is a process where faith, work and endurance are very much essential to finish this process. Faith without work is dead and work without endurance is in vain. Salvation is a course that everyone who desires it must have a serious decision. The book of Hebrews stated,

“Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.” (Hebrews 10:38)

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This is the reason why I’m wondering to those people who, at the very day they allegedly accepted Christ as their Lord and personal Savior, so easily declared that they were already saved. The Bible is a book full of righteous principles and commandments of God where our faith must be rooted in. And by faith we must live  first upon all these precious teachings to be saved, and not just with some five or six verses frequently read by many evangelical preachers. Paul said,

 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. (I Corinthians 15:1-2)

Believing is not enough for us to be saved. You need to live and endure on what you believe and it is by the word of God that you must believe in order to be saved. While it is true that we can have the assurance of salvation even today, assurance is always depend on how we live upon the gospel which is the condition of being saved. There is no such thing as “eternal security”. Our salvation will be secured as long as we live upon the condition taught in the gospel. Christ said,

 ”Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;” (John 8:31)  And then Paul states,

“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”  (Phil. 2:12)

Now the question is, “are we (living Christians) already saved?” Not yet. We are still in the process. We may have the assurance now, but if we failed in this process, that assurance can be forfeited. Lets take for example the humble apostle Paul when he said, ” Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:13-14) Paul, unlike some people who boast for their false claims, never count himself to have apprehended or already saved, but what he did is he pressed toward the mark of the prize by forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before. And on the days of his coming departure, then he finally claimed for himself the crown of life,

“For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” (II Timothy 4:6-8)

As long as man is full of weakness–for of himself he cannot save his soul–he should never dare to say, ‘I am saved.’ “It is not he that putteth on the armor that can boast of the victory; for he has the battle to fight and victory to win. It is he that endureth unto the end that shall be saved. The Lord says, ‘If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him’ (Heb. 10:38). If we do not go forward
from victory to victory, the soul will draw back to perdition. . . . God’s holy law  is the only thing by which we can determine whether we are keeping His way or not. If we are disobedient, our characters are out of harmony with God’s moral rule of government, and it is stating a falsehood to say, ‘I am saved.’ No one is saved who is a [deliberate, habitual] transgressor of the law of God, which is the foundation of His government in heaven and in earth.

Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society: Hypocrisy at Its Best

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the beast of Revelation 17 where the harlot is riding is the United Nations. This belief was recorded in their book called “Isaiah’s Prophecy — Light for All Mankind“, vol. 1 p. 153.

“The harlot is riding a scarlet-colored wild beast that has seven heads and ten horns. (Revelations 17:3,5,7-12) The wild beast represents the United Nations organization… Thus the modern-day Assyrian (nations associated with the UN) will deal Christendom a mighty blow and will crush her out of her existence.

And in the book called “Babylon the Great Has Fallen!” God’s Kingdom Rules! states on pages 593-594:

“The Seventh World Power is the main promoter and supporter of the United Nations, the present form of the ‘image of the wild beast.’ …Destruction is what God’s angel predicted for this scarlet-colored wild beast by saying: ‘The wild beast that was but is not, it is also itself an eighth king, but springs form the seven, and it goes off into destruction.’ (Revelation 17:11) The United Nations of today contains as members the Seventh World Power and the national remnants of all the previous world powers. So it owes its existence to those seven world powers; it springs from them. As this modern scarlet-colored beast is an image of the leopard-spotted wild beast from the sea, which is a summation of all seven world powers, the beastly ‘image’ is also in itself a world power or ‘king,’ hence ‘an eighth king.’ It has put its own military police force into the field of action. Now that it has ascended out of the abyss and been out since 1945, the Bible shows that what next it will do is to go off into destruction.”

But look who’s speaking? For ten years, from 1991 until October of 2001, the Watchtower Organization was associated with the United Nations as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO).

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Witnesses believe that the beast where the harlot is riding represents the United Nations and that Jehovah God will punish this gigantic organization, including those who associated themselves with it. But for a very long time, the innocent members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses were ignorant about the membership of their religion with what they called as “beast”. But when some curious members learned how their leaders compromised their own message, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society demand a rush disconnection of their organization from the United Nations. After the dismembership, Watch Tower blames the United Nations, particularly the head of the Department of Public Information for not telling the truth. According to their accusation, the chief of the DPI did not does he not make it clear that the original applications said nothing about supporting the UN charter. It is wondering how Jehovah’s Witnesses understand that before entering in such organization, the applicant must be aware of its charters before he proceed to the signing of documents. Concerning to the NGOs, the United Nations charter declared;

“The NGOs officially recognized by DPI cooperate with the United Nations to help build public understanding and support for United Nations programmes and goals… To be granted association status with DPI, NGOs must …support the Charter of the United Nations …and possess the resources necessary for effective outreach.”

Feel free to read this document.

Press Release letter from the United Nations dated August 1992: