Chapter Two

What if it isn't true?

            What if the Pretribulation rapture isn’t true?  That is a questions that each person who professes Christianity really needs to ask himself or herself.  We have to consider the ramifications of our actions every day, so why not do the same with our doctrine.  What happens if we drive over the speed limit?  Or drive while under the influence of alcohol?  What if we rob, cheat, lie or commit any other crime or sin?  We also have to ask ourselves what the consequences of the things that we do that are not crimes, but are dangerous.  I’m sure that at one time most professing Christians considered the consequences of entering eternity without Christ or they would not be saved today.  Therefore, I do not know of any reason why we shouldn’t consider the what ramifications will be if the Pretribulation Rapture is not true.  Therefore, let’s consider what the problems might be if one finds himself or herself in the Tribulation, but has been under the deception that they would not go through this tumultuous and violent time.  

              First there is the problem of the Antichrist.  Pretribulationists believe that they will not face the Antichrist or be on earth when he is revealed.  If they are wrong and the Man of Sin is revealed?  Will they believe that he is actually the Antichrist?  If professing Christians do not recognize the Antichrist, there is a great potential of coming under his spell.  We have to remember that the Antichrist is coming with all power, signs, and lying wonders and with all unrighteous deception in the last days. One has to be on the highest spiritual alert, which the PTR doctrine does not encourage.

The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, {10} and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. {11} And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, {12} that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Th 2:9-12 NKJV)  

            Second, there is the problem of the strong delusion that God will send everyone who did not develop a love for the truth.  This means that people not only will be in an atmosphere of incredible deception with all types of lying signs and wonders, but they will also receive no help from God to recover themselves from the snare.  The only hope for anyone is to be prepared before entering this diabolical era.  I do not see how believing in the Pretribulation Rapture can help people to be prepared.  I can see how it would cause people to become complacent and apathetic towards the coming Tribulation, and be totally unprepared to face the very difficult challenge to their faith.

            The third problem is the danger of being swept up in the allure of the Antichrist to the extent one may take the Mark of the Beast.  It is one thing to be unprepared and wake up in time to avoid bondage, but what about people who are never warned?  In Dr. Tim LaHaye’s Left Behind book series, one young man named Chang takes the mark of the Beast.  When the authors were asked if Chang lost his salvation, they answered negative.  In their opinion Chang was still saved because he had taken the mark of the Lord first.  This is deduction is obviously on the false doctrine of Unconditional Eternal Security (Once Saved, Always Saved), an error based on an error.  It proves the saying that error begets error.     

          There are some fatal errors in Dr. Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkin’s position concerning the mark of the Lord.  First of all, the only people in Revelation who receive the mark of the Lord are the 144,000 Jews.  These men follow the Lamb of God wherever He goes.  It is not likely that any of the 144,000 Jews would have an oriental name or leave following Christ to receive the mark of the Beast.  These facts do not seem to bother Dr. LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins since they believe in Once Saved, Always Saved.  According to their doctrine, one cannot lose their salvation even if he or she takes the mark of the Beast or adds to the Word of God.  In my opinion, it is dangerous to accept teaching from people who believe in this doctrine.  There is no telling how much they may take unauthorized liberties with the Word of God since they do not believe there are any serious consequences for doing so.

            Therein lays the great danger of believing in a false doctrine of the magnitude of the Pretribulation Rapture.  Although at one time I had placed this doctrine in the non-essential category, I have gradually moved it up the scale as I realized the dangerous errors that are associated with it.  Now on a scale of one to ten, the PTR doctrine has gone up to a nine in danger.  It is nearly on the same level as denying Christ or blaspheming the Holy Spirit.  The reason for this rating is because Dr. LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins are promoting the extremely dangerous doctrine that people can take the mark of the Beast and still remain a Christian.  The Scriptures are completely clear in Revelation that anyone and everyone who takes the mark of the Beast will be eternally damned. 

Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, {10} "he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. {11} "And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name." (Rev 14:9-11 NKJV)   

            We have to take the proper preparation for the Tribulation and all of its spiritual danger.  Preparation for the Seven-Year Period of untold deception and tribulation is not about building underground bunkers and storing food, but about receiving a love for the truth and keeping one’s heart pure from falseness.  We must consider the fact that the strong delusion from God will be a major factor as well in the lives of the unprepared.  The Apostle Paul declared that in the last days after the unleashing of full-blown satanic deception and the revealing of the Antichrist, God will send a strong delusion that many people would believe  “the lie and be damned.”    

11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thess 2:11-12 NKJV)

Notice the phraseology, "the lie."  The only other place in the New Testament that this term “the lie” is used is in the following scripture.

24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. (Rom 1:24-26 NKJV) (Emphasis mine.)  

            One has to wonder what “the lie” is and determine to avoid believing it.  We have to read the surrounding verse of each text to get the full picture.  In 2 Thessalonains, “the lie” apparently refers to this passage. 

3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. (2 Thess 2:3-5 NKJV)  

In Romans 1, “the lie” is obviously a reference to the following:

22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man--and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. (Rom 1:21-23 NKJV)  

            Therefore, “the lie” must be a reference to worshipping a false image or a man as God.  The main protection that we have against this deadly error is the love of the truth.  The truth itself will not protect you.  Now before you hit me with a verbal rock, hear me out.  I know people who are full of truth, but live weak and even sinful error.  I have met drunkards who could spout scriptures.  We can have truth sitting on our coffee tables gathering dust and go straight to hell when we exit this life.  Evidently truth didn’t protect the people in Romans 1 because they rejected God in spite of the truth.  In fact, they exchanged the truth of God for a lie (Ro. 1:25)

            It is love for the truth that we must have in order to protect our hearts and minds from the powerful and very dangerous error of the last days.   Love for the truth ensures that it is saturated into our spiritual systems.  The scriptures declared that God sent them the strong delusion because they didn’t receive a love for the truth.  This means that God expects us to receive this love, so He must be sending it or causing it to be generated in our spiritual systems.  In my opinion, every one who is saved receives a hunger and passion for the truth that is manifested as a type of love.  Can you remember when you were saved?  How you hungered for truth almost more than food?  All that you wanted to talk about were the things of God? 

            Five of the seven churches in Revelation were rebuked for backsliding or leaving their first love.  They still had the outward signs of the “end of your search for a perfect church.”  However, God saw right through the smoke screen to the dying embers of love in their hearts.  They did not hunger and thirst for truth anymore, but simply shined the old relics of past accomplishments.

            Someone once said that every generation must have its own revival; God has no grandchildren.  We cannot become victorious by polishing the accomplishments of generations past.  The legacy of our forefathers is not sufficient for spirituality, power, or passion in us.  We must hunger and develop a love for truth so strong that we rediscover the old truths and preach/teach them with fresh anointing.

            More than that, we must not stop with the work that God begins in our hearts.  Salvation will cause us to be purged and renewed in righteousness, but the Holy Spirit will continue to work on us until all remnants of the fleshly influence has vanished from our nature.  This means that He will eventually touch every hot spot of rebellion or secret sin within us.  We cannot hide our golden images from God’s omniscience.  Initially, everyone gives up the bulk of their sinfulness when they get saved, but they do not yield everything in their flesh that produces sin.  Some things we have lived with so long and are so deep that we do not realize they exist in us.  These flaws are often intertwined with our spirits, our personalities, and we become very protective of them and fiercely defend them against all challenges. 

            For example, I have known people who had abusive personalities.  They abused people consistently and responded to the complaints with, “That’s just the way I am.”  Other people defend their flaws by saying, “I’m just being myself.”  These statements may be true, but they are not valid defenses of our character flaws.  The Word of God tells us that we should not be ourselves, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh (Ro. 13:14).  This means that our flaws will be dealt with by God and we must surrender every thing that God requires us to surrender.  To put it bluntly, we must change and lose the bad attitudes and barbed tongues.  

            When these flaws are confronted by the Word, people often get angry and attack the preacher.  I have preached many messages that people became angry at me for preaching.  (However, if you throw a stick in a pen full of hound dogs, the one who yelps is the one who got hit.)  The longer that we are professing Christians, and continue to resist this deep work of God, the more probable it is that we will accept false doctrine and other errors.  People who are running from the sword of the Spirit run into churches where their deep flaws and sin is not challenged.  In order to escape the Lordship of Christ, that demands we surrender all, they lose their passion for truth by degrees.

            The responsibility of accepting truth is that we must change our lives accordingly.  We cannot give mental assent alone to the Word of God.  We must accept it into our spirits and conform to it in every way as the Holy Spirit convicts us.  Rejecting a love for the truth begins by rejecting God in the smallest matters of the heart that His Spirit deals with us in.  This rejection mounts up as a rebellion and the pressure builds until we cannot bear the conviction any longer.  Running from God is not limited to sinners, for I have known many professing Christians who ran and are running from the deep work of the Holy Spirit.

            No person can grow beyond the place where they refused to let God go deeper with His Lordship.  Remaining surrendered to His Lordship is essential to developing a love for the truth.  Our present American professing Christian is so into self that many obsessions and idolatry has formed.  Men worship sports and women worship vain men.  Pleasure and self-seeking are at the top of the list of pursuits for most professing Christians.   The Word of God has been driven out of most of their hearts long ago and all that is left is religious homage to a building, a denomination, or a venerated but inactive belief system. 

            Love for the truth will not survive beyond our passion and willingness to have the truth impregnated into every area of our spirits.  The doors in our heart that are shut to God are also shut to truth.  We are tormented in such a divisive state of knowing that God wants in, but afraid that He will change us or take away one of our golden idols that are lodged deep in the fleshly spirit.  Something must give!  We will not remain tormented for long.  We will either reject His truth, or let Him in.  Sadly, most professing Christians today reject His truth and their love for the truth dies as a consequence.  What is even sadder, they are being taught that this is okay, that every discomfort is from the devil and that they have the liberty to just do what feels good.

            This is the stuff of apostasy and the last great apostasy will be the result of a selfish society mad with pleasure and void of any love for God’s truth.  It is this group that God will send a delusion to so that they will not see the signs and be warned.   They will wake up without oil or hope.  God help us to remain surrendered and obedient to God in every way and every small matter of the heart.

          If we love the truth, then we will be willing to change our doctrine when we become aware of its falseness.  If the Pretribulation Rapture isn’t true, then there will be multitudes of professing Christians who are unprepared for the overwhelming deception.  They will be set in a course to destruction because of pride, or clinging to a doctrine because of sentimental attachment, and other factors including denominational stubbornness.  Nothing will be able to shock them awake when they become set in their courses, not even the advent of the Man of Sin and his evil activities.

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, (Matt 3:7-8  NKJV)  

Have you considered the ramifications if the Pretribulation Rapture doctrine is not true?   Have you studied it out for yourself in the Bible, or are you merely taking other people's word for the truth? 

  Chapter Three