Good Morning and welcome to the Berean Break.  My name is George Sinkie and I am so glad that you have joined us today.  Get out your Bible and follow along today, check out what is taught and see that it is the truth and then apply that truth into your life.  As we begin this morning let’s go to God in prayer,

Great God in heaven, we thank You for this day in our lives, and pray that each of us will open our hearts and minds to Your will.  As we search the Scriptures together, may we be noble minded like the Bereans.  Lord, may we cast out the man-made creeds and teachings that will destroy our relationship with You.  We thank You for Jesus and its in His name we pray.  AMEN !!

     I believe that many of you have seen them.  A warning on the car ahead of you that says something like “Warning: In case of Rapture this car will be driverless.”  What is this doctrine of the Rapture?  Where does it come from?
     Today we are going to look at the doctrine of the Rapture and some of the other basic doctrines that tie in with it.  This doctrine is usually taught by people that are millennialists, which means that they believe Jesus is going to come back to earth and set up an earthly kingdom and reign for 1000 years.  Most dispensational millennialists use passages from the books of Daniel, Ezekiel, and Revelation in support of their doctrine.  The passages to which they often refer are highly symbolic and apocalyptic.  That is, the texts use symbols and figures to represent spiritual concepts.  Admittedly, many of these symbols and images can be difficult to understand.  Keep in mind that the Bible is one large book composed of 66 smaller books.  God does not teach conflicting doctrines in various places.  Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 14:33

   33 for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

Now Paul is referring to the first Century use of miraculous powers but the principle holds true in other areas as well.  The Bible is uniform and consistent in its teaching throughout.

     One of the most basic principles of interpretation is to interpret the difficult passages in light of those easily understood.  This method of interpretation applies to the Bible or any other document or concept.  For example, when one learns to do mathematics, he must first learn addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division (usually in that order) before moving on to algebra, geometry, etc.  All higher math must agree with the elementary principles of mathematics.  Unfortunately, millennialist doctrine twists and distorts difficult passages and makes them teach something in direct opposition to easily understood scriptures.

     The main points of this lesson are going to be looking at the most common beliefs in the millennial system.  Not every millennialist will agree with every point I make, but the following is a summary of the main points and most millennialists will agree with it.  While it is not the intent to show the errors of every minute point of millennialism, if we destroy the foundation the rest will collapse.

     Here is a condensation of the millennialist doctrine.

1. Initially, Jesus came to earth to establish an earthly kingdom in Judah, on David’s throne.  Because the Jews rejected Him, He could not set up the kingdom.  Then as if it were some afterthought He set up the church instead until He comes again.

2. At some point in the future, there will be a secret “catching away” of the saints, both living and dead, before “the tribulation”.  This is commonly referred to as “the rapture”.

3. The tribulation will last approximately 7 years, during which time the Jews will begin to rebuild the temple.  The Jews will also enter into a 7-year agreement with “the Anti-christ”.  After 3½ years, “the Antichrist” will be revealed, at which time he will stop the daily sacrifice and set up his own image in the temple.

4. During this time, Jerusalem will be trodden under foot, nations will unite against the city and overcome it.  Great suffering will occur and many will be carried into captivity;  those remaining will turn to Christ.  When the kings of Earth gather to battle against the Christians, Jesus will descend with the saints to deliver the faithful and destroy the enemy.  Thus ends the tribulation and the power of the Antichrist.

5. Tribulation martyrs are raised to reign with Jesus and the other saints for 1000 years, during which time Jesus will sit on the throne of David, having established his earthly kingdom in Jerusalem.

6. The tribes of Israel are restored and the Lord makes a new covenant with them.  The temple will be completely rebuilt with Levitical sacrifices re-established and continued throughout the 1000 year reign.

7. After 1000 years – the final judgment will take place.

Again I want to state that not every millennialist is going to believe each of these points and to some there will be points that I have not listed.  Let’s go through these points and see how they compare with what the Bible teaches.

     The first point we want to look at is that according to the millennialist:

     Initially, Jesus came to the earth to establish an earthly kingdom in Judah, was rejected by the Jews, and set up the church instead until he came again.

If an earthly kingdom was the plan, then it is interesting that Jesus was ignorant of the plan of God. Consider the discussion between Pilate and Jesus recorded for us in John 18:33-37

   33 Pilate therefore entered again into the Praetorium, and summoned Jesus, and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”
   34 Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?”
   35 Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I?  Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You up to me;  what have You done?”
   36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world.  If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting, that I might not be delivered up to the Jews;  but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”
   37 Pilate therefore said to Him, “So You are a king?”  Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king.  For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

Did Jesus lie to Pilate?  Or did He reveal truth as He said was His purpose for coming?  The millennialist doctrine of an earthly kingdom would mean that Jesus is a liar.  I believe that there is a lie being told, but it is not being told by Jesus.  Now the destruction of this one point shows that the millennialist doctrine is not Scriptural, and therefore we could stop right now but we are going to go on so that we can deal with the doctrine of the Rapture.

     Before we leave this first point though we need to look at the idea that the church was an idea that God came up with when the Jews rejected Jesus.  This would make the church some kind of “Plan B.”  This doctrine also borders on blasphamy because it calls into question whether God is all-knowing.  Of course the Bible shows that this man-made doctrine is the one lacking knowledge.  Turn with me over to Ephesians 3:8-12, where Paul writes,

   8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ,
   9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things;
   10 in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.
   11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,
   12 in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.

The church is not some afterthought or Plan B; the church is and eternally has been “Plan A.”  The church was a part of God’s eternal purpose, and those who teach differently are false teachers.

     We are going to go ahead and look at the Rapture doctrine even though without the earthly kingdom it cannot stand.  The second point we mentioned was:

There will be a secret “catching away” of the saints, both living and dead, before “the tribulation.”  This catching away is commonly referred to as “the rapture.”

This “catching away” is still at some future time from us now, which according to this man-made doctrine makes the “tribulation” yet to come at some future time.  As we examine the Scriptures we see that this does not harmonize with Scripture at all.
     First of all, John was going through the biblical doctrine of the tribulation, along with the other Christians of that day, in the first century.  You can read it and understand it in Revelation 1:9

   9 I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos, because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

John also shows here that the kingdom was already in existence because he was in it already.  So we see the error of their “tribulation” doctrine as well as their kingdom doctrine.
     Now what about this “Rapture,” this secret catching away.  Does the Bible support the idea that cars will be driverless?  Will some be raised at one time and then years later others raised on the last day?  How can we know?  How can we tell?  I believe that the Bible will answer these questions if we sincerely search the Scriptures.
     Let’s look at John 6:40, where Jesus says,

   40 For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life;  and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.

Notice when the righteous are going to be raised, “on the last day.”  Now you have to make a choice — you can believe Jesus who says the resurrection is going to be on the last day or you can believe the man-made doctrine of the “rapture” which teaches that the resurrection is going to be 1007 years before the last day.
     The “rapture” doctrine also teaches a false doctrine of multiple resurrections.  On the other hand, Jesus teaches in John 5:28-29

   28 Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice,
   29 and shall come forth;  those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

Notice that it says “all” who have done “good deeds” and “evil deeds” will come forth in “an hour.”  “An hour” is singular, this is showing that this happens at one time, not multiple times separated by over a thousand years.
     Now there are other points of doctrine in the millennialist doctrine, but we have seen that the very foundation of their doctrine is wrong so nothing that they build upon it will stand.  The kingdom already exists and has since the first century.  The tribulation was already going on in the first Century.  And the idea of the “rapture is not taught or supported in Scripture.