Mt Everest

Tall, but not quite the tallest

There are actually mountains taller than Mt Everest but don't get hung up on that, it all depends on how you measure them. We are here for another thought all together.

Now, where was I?

Mt. Everest

So, you've conquered all these destinations and think you 're ready for another challenge . . . .

Mt. Everest is as high up as you can go without leaving earth, so we will use this part of the journey to discuss the rapture. Are you ready for it? The truth about the rapture will shatter your false hopes and dreams.

Now in case you have never heard of the rapture. I will give a basic condensed explanation: The pre—tribulation rapture is the theory that God is going to pull all Christians off the earth and resurrect the dead Christians ﬁrst and then those that are alive will all be transported to Heaven in an instant.

Now, let's get to the top of the mountain. If you have never heard of this theory, you are probably better off. because it is one of the false hope theories that churches teach. There are three main teachings of the rapture's timing: pre-tribulation, mid—tribulation, and post-tribulation. Pre-
tribulation is the most common theory taught today, but 120 years ago a fourth theory (actually the ﬁrst) was taught that has been forgotten due to a lack of interest in the truth. We will discuss the reasons why no one alive today will ever see the pre—tribulation rapture, but some may be around for
the ﬁrst resurrection. 'So get ready Linus. we're about to rip your security blanket out of your hands.

Let's start by going over the basics on the pre-tribulation theory, (and if you are interested on how this theory came to be, do a search on Darby/Scoﬁeld) Here, I did it for you.

http://www.sweetliberty.org/issues/hoax/scofield.htm

https://poweredbychrist.homestead.com/files/cyrus/scofield.htm

You will ﬁnd out that this theory became so widespread. due to the Baptist denomination through Moody Bible Institute.

The story is that Scoﬁeld was in prison for fraud, theft, extortion etc. He studied the philosophy of John Darby, the inventor of the pre-tribulation rapture theory. Scoﬁeld was very charismatic in personality and involved with the Moody Bible Church and the Moody Bible Institute, and through these institutions, these beliefs spread like crazy. In the early 1900's he put together his Scofield reference Bible (financially funded by the Rothschild family) with these teachings. He even made a Bible that replaced the phrase 'God' with 'Allah' but there were not many printings due to the mass upset this caused.

Most churches convince you that you will be raptured away soon, (every one of them believes that it will happen in their lifetime), so if you buy into the fact that you won't live out your entire life, you will be more easily persuaded to give them your money and possessions. Why though, if they are going to be raptured soon, do they beg for your money and estates?

Ask your pastor about his stock investments and his portfolio, or even his church supplied retirement account. Then think to yourself, would a person that truly believed that the rapture was about to happen any day spend so much money and time preparing for the future? Also, ask does your
church have a building fund, and if so, why? The answer to this is simple, they plan on being around for many, many, more years. Plain and simple - they are either confused themselves or they are lying to you.

The most commonly taught belief is pre—tribulation rapture. 'Post' and 'mid' are only found and heard of occasionally. Pre—tribulation rapture is the belief that right before the seven-year tribulation starts - in which God unleashes his wrath upon mankind - God is going to make an invisible second coming and suck up all Christians off of the earth. They will spend the seven-year period in Heaven and return with Christ to ﬁght with him at the Battle of Armageddon, at his second, second coming. They believe that God will not let Christians endure his wrath and judgments.

Apparently, we are such a great bunch of Christians that God won't let persecution come to us. Amazing how he let the apostles be imprisoned and put to death. However, they believe that the apathetic and complacent Christians of today will be protected. Doesn't the Bible show that throughout all of history the true followers of God have been persecuted, tortured. imprisoned and killed?

On a side note, many of the first and second century Christian authors such as Tertullian, Clement 1, Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus, Hippolytus, and others all firmly believed and wrote that they believed all true believers would live through the persecution of the end times tribulation. Do today's preachers know more than them? I think not.

Now the pre-tribulation believers have been modifying their belief over time and somehow the church members haven't noticed that this has been happening. Clear up until about 1985 the belief taught from pulpits and in movies such as the "A Thief in the Night“ series are as such: Christians
would be raptured and then people who had heard about the rapture from family or friends could get saved during the tribulation and would later get beheaded for their beliefs. Then through the “80's & 90's the churches added that anyone that heard about the rapture and the need of Christ as Saviour and rejected Him couldn't get saved after the rapture. Their fate was sealed. They still believed that people could and would get saved after this rapture if they never heard or understood about Christ.

Now, here we are in the 2000's and most churches state that after the rapture no one else can or will get saved. Today preachers say things like: 'So you better get saved today because if the rapture happens tonight, you will be left behind and your fate sealed.’ If this is the case, then who are all the people getting their heads cut off during the tribulation for their faith?

Did you notice how slow and subtle the changes took place? This is how corruption and deceit creep in. If you are in a church, watch for these changes if they haven't happened already.

Here are the most well-known Bible verses on the rapture:
Daniel 12:1-4
I Corinthians 15:51-58
Matthew 24:31
II Peter 3:10
I Thessalonians 4:13-18
II Thessalonians 2:11

And here are the verses that no church will ever tell their people, for these are the key verses.
John 5:28-29
II Thessalonians 2:1-4
Revelation 8:6
Revelation 20:1-8

First regarding the rapture theory, we must acknowledge what takes place. A resurrection of the dead. The dead in Christ shall rise ﬁrst then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. I Thessalonians 4:16-17. Remember this resurrection for later.

Let's start with the verse in I Corinthians 15:51-58. In verse 52 it states at the last trump the dead shall be raised; this is a key factor. Now ﬂip to Revelation 8:6-13. This is clearly in the tribulation period and look at all the trumpets sounding. If the dead are raised at the last trump, then it can't happen before the tribulation starts. This still leaves 'mid' tribulation and 'post' tribulation available. Now the church crowd explains this away by saying that this is a different set of trumps and that the last trump for the rapture happens before all these trumps; Yeah, like that makes sense. Now this section in I Corinthians does not even have anything to do with the rapture, but it is actually referring to the resurrection day, which is judgment day.

The last trump sounding is the most vital, it is the one in which Christ will return. There will be no more trumpet sounds after this point for this is the highlight of prophecy being fulﬁlled. Protestant religions would like you to believe that at the rapture the trump shall sound and then after this God
still had his angels sounding trumpets for smaller less signiﬁcant events. The churches state no one will see or know that Christ returned or took his believers and all the world will wonder.

If churches observed the biblical feasts like we were commanded, instead of pagan holidays then they would understand the trumps. The festival of trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) starts with the blowing of a shofar horn (or trumpet today), this represents the announcement of the messiah's
victorious, triumphant return and then is followed by a large feast representing the marriage supper of the lamb.

Now, let’s look at ll Peter 3:10. This is the famous thief in the night verse. You may have even seen the movie from the 70's by the same name. A neat movie, but biblically inaccurate. The parts to look at here are what it says will happen on this great day of the Lord. It tells us that the heavens shall pass away with great noise and the elements and earth shall melt with fervent heat. So, if this is the rapture time slot then what about Heaven and Earth being destroyed? How could the tribulation period start with no Earth? This must be why they only read the ﬁrst line of the verse. All denominations love that trick. This day that the Lord comes as a thief in the night must be something else then. Let's look now again in Revelation 21:1 where it says I (John) saw a new Heaven and a new Earth for the ﬁrst ones were passed away. These are referring to the same time slot and it is after the tribulation period. Look at chapter 20:11-15 and you will see judgment day, then in chapter 21 comes the new Heaven and Earth. They were passed away with fervent heat and a great noise, (nuclear war, possibly?). But once again, these have nothing to do with the rapture, but they have everything to do with judgment day.

Okay, turn to John 5:28-29. Now this is one that you will probably never hear in a church, it would confuse everybody. The hour is coming in the which ALL that are in graves will hear his voice. Did you notice the word ALL? Sure you did. This is once again the judgment day and it shows a resurrection of ALL the people saved or unsaved. This throws a problem into the beliefs that people who die go instantly to heaven or hell, but there are a lot of other verses, also, that mess up those beliefs.

Now to the most famous section to be used for the rapture. l Thessalonians 4:13-18. In verse 14 we see that it tells us if Jesus died and rose so will those which sleep in Jesus.

Remember the story in Matthew 9:18-26 when Jesus raised the little girl from the dead? He told them don't worry; she is only sleeping. With the belief of instantly going to Heaven or Hell imagine dying and being in Heaven and then all of a sudden you are brought back to Earth. What a disappointment! Even more surprisingly, not one single person ever rises from the dead and is carrying on about how great it was, or in the example found in John 4:46-53 when the unbelieving Galilean nobleman's son dies, who is more than likely from a family worshiping pagan gods, to have returned telling everyone how terrible Hell was, but not a word was said. It sounds to me that they were just sleeping, their bodies waiting for resurrection day.

l Thessalonians 4:16-17 tells us about the Lord coming from Heaven and the dead believers rise ﬁrst and then the alive believers are caught up in the clouds, but we do not know how long after. This is deﬁnitely a resurrection/rapture. This, however, shows that the rapture is not a silent secret thing when it happens. In verse 16 the Lord descends with a shout, we hear the archangels voice (this is probably Michael or Gabriel announcing the Lord. It may go something like this: behold all ye dwellers of the Earth - prepare for the great and mighty Lord, king and Saviour of mankind, Yeshua!). Based on the previous verses this one could happen in the middle or the end of the tribulation, but since it is an acknowledged return then at best it could be at the end, during the battle of Armageddon when all the world knows he is returning. But if we look at all the remaining verses then we will see that this may not be at that point either.

In Matthew 24 the whole chapter is full of prophecy, but I will only pick out a handful. As you read through this chapter you will see all types of things that appear to be from the tribulation and then in verse 27 it says that the coming of the Lord shall be like lightning. Again, nothing secret, verse 29
says immediately after the tribulation of those days into verse 30 and then shall appear the Son of man coming in clouds of heaven. Verse 31 his angels will sound with a trumpet, again everyone hears, and he gathers his elect. At this point it appears that this could happen at the battle of Armageddon, but then look at verse 36, it tells us that no one knows the day or hour. continue in verses 37-39 referencing 'in the days of Noe (Noah)'. These are describing the second coming. Verses 40-44 describe a rapture. But look at verse 35 and it states that heaven and earth shall pass away, so could this be in the time slot of 2 Peter 3:10 which is resurrection for judgment day? I, myself, am not quite sure but these last couple of sections all clearly show that it is after 'those days' thus eliminating the possibility of a mid-tribulation rapture. So, now we are left with only the possibilities of a rapture occurring at the battle of Armageddon, or at the very end on judgment day or possibly both.

I Thessalonians 4 vs 16 "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" vs 17 “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."
Revelation 20:1-8. Now, this is the one that seals it, and it alone shatters any belief in a 'pre', 'mid' or 'post'-tribulation rapture, l mean only the possibility for a resurrection/judgment day rapture remains. It starts with verses 1-3 showing Satan bound for 1,000 years. So here we are, obviously after the entire tribulation period. Then in verse 4, we see that those that were beheaded for not taking the mark of the beast or worshiping his image, and they reign with Christ 1,000 years. So, again - after the tribulation. All four verses show the beginning of the millennium reign. These next two verses are the most important verse in this whole topic.

Q: In verse 5 'but the rest of the dead lived not until the 1,000 years were ﬁnished', who are the rest of the dead?

A: Look at verse 4, anyone that wasn't beheaded in the tribulation period.

It does not mention any other believers except those that were beheaded and the bottom of verse 5 says this is the ﬁrst resurrection. In verse 6 we see, again, the mention of me ﬁrst resurrection and that they will reign with Christ for 1,000 years. So, if the FIRST resurrection is after the tribulation period and it is only for the beheaded and they get to reign with Christ for the 1,000 years, then there is no rapture at all for the living until judgment day or at least until after the 1,000-year reign. So, all those other verses tie in with the ﬁnal resurrection and judgment day not a rapture to avoid tribulation.

So, in summary, we see a tribulation period. I believe at Christ's physical return (all the world seeing) at the battle of Armageddon. Those beheaded for not taking the mark are resurrected immediately prior to the world seeing Christ and these are the saints that return to do battle with the Lord. The armies of the beast are defeated. Christ sets up his 1000-year reign. Satan is bound for the 1,000 years and then let loose again. We do not know how long it takes, but in Revelation 20:27-9 we see he works fast, and we see ﬁre from Heaven (this is the ﬁre that destroys everything, Revelation 21:1, II Peter 3:10. Also think of all the times Christ mentioned separating the wheat from the chaff. And the chaff and tares (weeds) were burned up). At the very end, right before the earth burns up, I believe that the believers are raptured, then the earth and elements burn and melt, then judgment day. In Revelation 21 is the new Heaven and new Earth and the holy city New Jerusalem descends from Heaven to the new Earth, and this is where Christ will reign from for all eternity.

Now let's go to Luke 17:22-37. It is used for the rapture. These are very familiar verses which you may recognize, but there are parts that are always skipped over or not emphasized. Verse 24 tells us that as everyone can see lightning, so will be the second coming. Not a secret, but visible.
Verses 26-30 describe the stories of Noah and Lot. I'm sure you know the phrase "as it were in the days of Noe (Noah)" but look at the last line of verses 27 & 29. In them both it says, 'destroyed them all'. Everyone uses these stories as examples of the rapture - especially the ﬂood. They say that since God rescued Noah before the ﬂood, that He will rescue us also. But again, they ignore the fact that alter God rescued Noah and Lot he destroyed everyone else. They all died. The rapture theory is that God rescues Christians, and the rest of the world continues to live. This is a bad section of verses for them to use as proof for their rapture. As you read on in this section you will see an actual rapture taking place, but the time frame as we just saw is at a ﬁnal destruction of the wicked, not before the tribulation and a 1,000-year millennium, but much later, with God destroying them all. This, also, can only be the very end at judgment day.

The other section is in Matthew 13:24-43, the parable of wheat and tares. Verses 24-30 go over the story and verses 36-43 are the explanation. Verse 39 says the harvest is the end of the world. The harvest is the separating of the wheat and tares. Verse 40 says the tares are burned in the ﬁre and so shall it be in the end of me world. The ﬁre that the tares are burnt up in, is the lake of ﬁre.

To ﬁnalize this matter I saved one of the best verses for last. if you still think there is a chance of a pre-tribulation rapture, then you will have to choose between church teachings and all the words of Christ, and one of these is lying to you.

So, to work through this we must come to a conclusion by asking some questions. When is the ’last day‘?

Q: Is the 'last day' right before the tribulation? A: No.

Q: So When is the 'last day'? A: It is the ﬁnal last day. John 6:39-54.

40. And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

41. The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.

42. And they said, ls not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? ‘

43. Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves.

44. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

45. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.

46. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.

47. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

48. I am that bread of life.

49. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead.

50. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.

51. l am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever. and the bread that I will give is my ﬂesh, which i will give for the life of the world.

52. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man ﬁve us his ﬂesh to eat?

53. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the ﬂesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

54. Whoso eateth my ﬂesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

So, Jesus, himself, states four times that he that believes in me, I will raise up at the last day.

So, let's refresh our memory, what is the ﬁrst thing that happens at the rapture? A resurrection. 1 Thessalonians 4:16. When did Christ say He would raise those that believe? On the last day. I guarantee you that the last day doesn't have a seven year (actually 3 1/2) period after it. I am conﬁdent that when Christ said he would raise the believers on the 'last day', he knew that the 'Iast day' was exactly that The last Day. So you decide. did Christ lie? Or is your pastor lying? And if you pastor is lying, who is his father? Now with that in mind, why are you still attending that church?

So. please do not trust your churches or preachers for they disguise themselves as ministers of light. RFID chips will, in the near future, be it a bracelet, bio-metric scanning or be implanted in people's hands or foreheads, (foreheads for those missing their hand). At that time. guess what many preachers will be convincing people to do? He will be telling his congregation that it‘s okay to get the chip implanted because the rapture hasn't happened yet, so it can't be the mark of the beast. Sadly, they will deceive many good people into taking the mark. if Satan were able, he would deceive the very elect. Why would your preacher want you to take the mark, you might ask. Because without it you cannot buy or sell which means no job and no money. Most importantly to the churches: you won't be able to pay them tithes. It will be the churches. schools. and civic centers that will be implanting the chips (sound reminiscent of a recent jab program) Please pay attention and be cautious. Be gentle as a dove, but wise as a serpent. They are out to deceive you for their own personal gain.

Search out the truth.

May God give us all the strength we need to stand strong unto death during that terrible upcoming period on Earth.

Let's take a quick trip for a special Prayer At Devil's Tower.

Waywardson Ministries

Hey There!

Mt Everest

Tall, but not quite the tallest