FreeGrace2 said:
1. There are NO verses showing Jesus taking resurrected/raptured believers to heaven. None. Think about it.
If there are ANy verses that teach that Jesus takes resurrected believers to heaven, please share. It seems you believe there are verses in which the "dots need connecting". Well, be my guest.
You really think so? Then study what Jesus said in Acts 14:14 - and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
So, according to your theory, which resurrection was Jesus referring to? Those "in Christ" or those "not in Christ"?
Then, after you figure that one out, consider what Paul said in Acts 24:15 - and I have the same hope in God as these men themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.
So, Paul, the greatest theologian in history, taught that there will be ONLY 2 resurrections; one for the saved and one for the unsaved.
Then, after you try to figure that out, consider what else Paul wrote, in 1 Cor 15:23 - But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.
So now you get to try to figure out just what does "those who belong to Him" refers to. Do ANY believers from the OT "belong to Christ"? Of course they do.
Just the opoposite is true. In that chapter, we find the Bride GETTING READY for the wedding supper. Just look at the actual wording.
Immediately following that, we find these same people, dressed exactly as they are described preparing for the wedding, accompanying Jesus to earth at the Second Advent.
It is very easy to make claims. It's a totally another thing to actually support your claims with evidence from Scripture.
So, instead of just making claims, go ahead and quote any verses that actually show Jesus taking resurrected/raptured believers to heaven. That will END all argument. Immediately.
Before you plug in the toaster, you need to AT LEAST think about the wording in Rev 19:9 - Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
So, explain WHY John would write "blessed are those who ARE INVITED tao the wedding supper". The common view re: pretrib rapture is that the wedding supper occurs immediately when the resurrected/raptured believers are taken up to heaven.
If that were true, John would have written "blessed are those who WERE invited". Since it would have occurred 7 years previously.
But because the wedding supper hasn't occurred yet, John's words make total sense. They make no sense if the wedding occurred in heaven when the crowd came back to heaven.
How about a bit of honesty here? Let's look at v.5 as well. v.5 - (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the
first resurrection.
Please explain how the resurrection of the trib martyrs is the FIRST resurrection, noting that both Jesus and Paul clearly indicated that there will be ONE resurrection of the saved and one for the unsaved.
It is I who am "pigeonholed" by God's Word. YES, there is only one resurrection of the saved. And Rev 20:5 calls the post trib resurrection of trib martyrs the FIRST resurrection, the only rational view is that the "rapture" occurs when Christ comew back to earth at the Second Advent.
2 Thess 2:1-3
1 Concerning
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (
Second Advent) and
our being gathered to him, (
rapture) we ask you, brothers and sisters,
2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come.
3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for
that day (
refers back to v.1 and "the coming of our Lord) will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.
Then YOU have a problem with what Jesus and Paul said. Jesus mentioned A resurrection of the saved in Luke 14:14 and Paul noted A resurrection of the saved and A resurrection of the unsaved.
There is ONLY ONE resurrection for saved people and one for the unsaved. Rev 20:5 SAYS that the post tribulation resurrection of Trib martyrs is the FIRST one. The one for the saved. And ALL of the saved.
Again, I repeat 1 Cor 15:23 - But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.
So, you need to grapple with this: first, "when He comes". What else could he have meant than the Second Advent? Then, "those who belong to Him". Who would Paul have been referring to? Just the NT believers? Of course not. EVERY believer belongs to Him.
You have no evidence for your theories.
Just keep in mind 1 Cor 15:23. When He comes, those who belong to Him. That's all believers. Just as Rev 20:5 says. That resurrection is the FIRST resurrection.
We know that the SECOND resurrection will be for the Great White Throne judgment (Rev 20:11-15).
You have demonstrated your failure to understand the Scripture that refutes your theory.