Let the Word of God Tell You if Partial Rapture is True
Re: http://jennawoestman.com/2012/01/25/...rtial-rapture/
Quote:
Originally Posted by jennawoestman
Yesterday I was putting away dishes from the dishwasher and Analie and Angus were playing in the hallway to our bedroom. While it is true that I couldn’t see them from where I was, this setup was safer than than the last time Analie helped me unload the dishwasher; she had pulled herself up on the door and was helping herself to a paring knife (which shouldn’t have been in there anyway) when I realized what she was doing.
So no more helping with the dishwasher.
And besides, I had shut all the doors in the hallway, so there was nowhere to go but out into the dining room and right into Mama’s line of sight.
Less than a minute after I checked on them, I finished the dishes. And suddenly I realized it had gotten altogether too quiet in the house. I walked over to the hallway; it was empty and all the doors were still closed.
Fine, fine, no problem; they had probably just sneaked around to the entryway and were trying to open the front door and escape again. (If I don’t get it quite latched all the way, girlfriend has figured out how to pry that heavy door open. TRUE.)
They were not in the entryway.
Or the purple bathroom.
Or the den.
Or the living room.
Or Analie’s room.
Or under the dining room table.
Or in the kitchen.
OR ANYWHERE ELSE THAT I COULD SEE.
My heart started racing and I flashed back to one of my Bible college classes where the professor was talking about Eschatological views, one of which was that there would be a Partial Rapture and those who were ready would go on up to Heaven, and the rest of us would have to stay down here on Earth and work on it for awhile.
But that wasn’t possible, right? Because every Bible college graduate worth their Grudem’s Systematic Theology knows that a.) 14 month old babies haven’t yet reached The Age Of Accountability, and b.) dogs don’t have souls.
That theory was off the table, so I did a second check of the house. We don’t have a large house, Internet. THERE AREN’T ANY PLACES TO HIDE.
The second trip around the house didn’t turn them up, and I was really starting to freak out.
And that’s when I heard it.
There was a NOISE coming from behind my CLOSED BEDROOM DOOR.
I carefully pushed the door open and was greeted by a grinning baby girl and a devilish puppy who was deep in a pile of clean, formerly folded laundry which I had been intending to put away during nap time.
They were so proud of themselves. Because, MAMA! WE ARE IN HERE ALL ALONE!
I have no idea how they got in my room, but I guess the door must not have latched when I shut it.
I’ma have to be more careful going forward. A closed door doesn’t mean an empty room anymore.
But the really good news? I haven’t been Left Behind!
Since dogs don't have God-consciousness they will cease to exist and won't be raptured. Don't be sad. God has a plan. Children haven't reached the age of accountability yet so they would be received up at the first rapture and not docked. But, if I am off on that point, don't worry, God has a plan for children who are saved because they haven't reached the age of accountability yet even if they had to enter the Tribulation.
Maybe those first raptured are like warriors able to take on Satan in the war in heaven that finally casts him down: "And there was war in heaven: and the dragon fought and his angels. And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him" (Rev. 12.7-9). "And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean" (Rev. 19.14). After they beat up Satan in 2nd heaven, they are ready to return with Jesus (Jude 14,15; Rev. 19.11-16). Those first raptured are raptured to 3rd heaven "before the throne" (Rev. 7.9) before the 1st trumpet (8.7) of the Tribulation begins, because they "kept the word of my patience" (Rev. 3.10a) so "I also will keep thee from the hour of trial, that hour which is to come upon the whole world" (Rev. 3.10b).
Do you need additional confirmation that this is so? "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man" (Luke 21.36). Are all Christians watchful and prayerful? Nope. Therefore, not all Christians would be ready at the first rapture. "Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come" (Matt. 24.40-42). Those Christians who are, again, watchful will be taken and not left. Both the Christians who are taken and left are saved and can't lose eternal life, but sadly, not all of them are ready before the Tribulation starts. There are advanced parties and harbingers in every sphere.
It can be said those who are first raptured will get to enter the marriage feast of the millennial kingdom (Matt. 25.1-13) by returning with Christ to reign over the nations (Rev. 2.26), but not all those who reign during the millennial kingdom will be first raptured because many are asleep or were not martyred in the past twenty centuries. "The souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And white robes were given unto every one of them" (Rev. 6.9,11). Those raptured before the Tribulation starts are Christians who alive at the time were ready to be received up as well as the martyrs from the past twenty centuries. Some people have some other issues with separate rapture, but they are easily discounted.
A. Some people say that the rapture of the church cannot be divided because the body of Christ cannot be divided. It should be noted in reply, however, that the body is a figure of speech which signifies one life. If the body is taken literally, then there is already division today because the Lord is now in heaven, Paul has already died, we remain living on earth, and some believers are yet to be born.
B. Others object that rapture is part of redemption, that since redemption is according to grace, rapture cannot be based on the concept of worthiness. In reply, it needs to be pointed out that while the act of changing (see 1 Cor. 15.51-52) is indeed according to grace, the act of being taken (rapture) is according to works.
C. Some observers ask, is it not rather cruel to take away hope from the church? To which we must answer that in the Scriptures there is no such false hope given; and therefore it is better to alert people to this fact.
D. I Corinthians 15.23, say some, only mentions “they that are Christ’s” and that nothing is said about works. But let us be aware that this verse does not speak of rapture, it speaks of resurrection.
E. Since the dead will not go through the Great Tribulation, would it not be unfair to the living for them to go through it? Will not the righteous God be unjust in this regard? In response, let me say that we do need to be concerned; for during the millennium each and every believer (including all believers who died prior to the Great Tribulation) will receive, as a consequence of appearing before Christ’s judgment seat, the things done in the body while alive, according to what he has done whether it be good or bad (2 Cor. 5.10).
F. Since in 1 Cor. 15:50-52 (“We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed”) “all” is the word used, surely this signifies the whole body. Yes, the “all” here does indeed refer to the entire body, but it does not have reference to the same time. For example, we all will die, but certainly not all of us will do so in one day.
G. There is a distinction made in the Bible between wheat and tares, some say, but no difference made between wheat and wheat; consequently, all wheat must be raptured. In reply, it should be noted that the times of ripening for wheat are not the same. Thus there are the firstfruits and the later harvest.
H. Some argue that according to I Thessalonians 4.15, the living “shall in no wise precede them who are fallen asleep” -The dead are resurrected at the seventh trumpet; and so timewise, rapture occurs after the Tribulation. Now if there is a first rapture, it will have to take place before the resurrection of the dead. But since this verse distinctly says “shall in no wise,” how then can rapture take place twice? Let me say in reply that it is most precious and significant to find in both verse 15 and verse 17 the qualifying clauses “we that are alive, that are left” - Now to be alive is obviously to be left on earth; why, then, is there this apparent unnecessary repetition? Because it implies that there are people who though alive yet have already gone ahead (that is, raptured) and therefore are no longer left on earth.
