The Postmillennial View Of The Rapture

hi welcome back to another episode of our Monday live show I am Pastor Joel webben with right response Ministries and we do this every Monday usually at 2 p.m Central we're a little bit early today um just because of scheduling conflicts but uh what I want to discuss is the post-millennial view of the Rapture I've had some people ask you know well do post-millennials even believe in a Rapture what is their view of the Rapture you know I was thinking uh just last night in our Sunday evening service at Covenant Bible Church where I Pastor in Central Texas we were singing um a song Blessed Assurance Blessed assurance Jesus is mine oh what a foretaste and so we're singing that and there was one particular verse in the song uh that says visions of rapture um I think it's visions of rapture burst into sight and I was thinking you know I probably need to explain this even to my congregation uh sometime soon because you know we're singing this and everyone you know in the congregation knows uh that I'm post-millennial and most of the members of the church are also in their eschatology uh post-millennial and here we are singing this song that has the word rapture in it you know that uh um and they're probably you know like can a post-millennial sing this song which I believe they can um because it's not specific it doesn't say a secret Rapture um it doesn't say a Rapture that's coming you know um uh next Thursday and it you know so I think it's perfectly conducive with the post-millennial eschatology uh that particular song Blessed assurance and the way that they use the word rapture but anyways it just got me thinking in my local setting pastorally but then also publicly I've had people ask the same kind of question so I thought you know what this will probably be a brief video but I just want to explain um in general what what is the post-millennial view of the Rapture and it's not that post-millennials don't believe there is any kind of rapture we do believe in a Rapture that might surprise you you probably have been many of you under the impression that post-millennials uh don't believe there is a Rapture at all but we technically to be fair we do believe in a Rapture it's not a secret Rapture but we do believe in eruption I'm going to show you the way we view from the scripture what that Rapture looks like but real quick before I do let me make a brief announcement and also offer a brief word for one of our sponsors so the announcement is this we've got our March conference March 1st second and third that's a Friday Saturday and Sunday of next year 2024 it's coming up we've got Doug Wilson Brian survey a Joe boot myself Michael Foster and Dale Partridge who are going to be speaking at this conference the title is blueprints for chrysidum 2.0 we're going to be talking about seven particular doctrines that we think are vital when it comes to stewarding and and ruling righteously ruling the world exercising good stewardship pushing back the the kingdom of darkness pressing for the crown rights of King Jesus so we're going to be talking about reformed confessional theology we're going to talk about covenant theology biblical patriarchy presuppositionalism kyperianism this all of Christ for all of life mentality General equity theonomy and post-millennial eschatology and so this conference is going to cover all seven of those doctrines we're also going to have a few live panels one where we talk about biblical patriarchy that's going to be with me and Doug and Michael Foster and also Eric Khan from it's good to be a man and then we'll also do a live panel um the second day of the conference the first one in biblical patriarchy will be on Friday the second day Saturday March 2nd we'll do a panel on um all things obscure and unhinged with uh Brian survey and also Ben Garrett from uh haunted Cosmos podcast they're going to do a panel with us so uh we're really excited about the conference it'll also hold over to March 3rd that Lord's day and um and one of our speakers will stay over and preach the sermon and I'll lead everybody through the Liturgy for that Lord say worship so it's going to be a great time if you haven't already registered I encourage you to do so our early bird rate is running out it's going to run out at the end of August August 31st is going to be the very last day for our early bird pricing so if you haven't registered already you need to do so because the early bird pricing is running out but also I've got a sneaking suspicion our theonomy and post mail conference that we held a couple months ago that sold out six months in advance and I think this one might sell out even faster the conferences March and we really I'm not just trying to you know use hyperbole to get you to buy the ticket right now today I really think that we're going to sell out at least six months in advance just like our last conference so we've already done it with the last conference it would not Shock me if we did it again so yeah you want to get the early bird pricing but you also just want to get a seat so go to writeresponseconference.com not right response Ministries but in this case write responseconference.com to register today all right quick word from our sponsor we'll move on there are very few things as important as Fellowship taking the time to spread the gospel is our duty as Christians but sharing the word over a warm cup of squirrely Joe's coffee now that is our passion like the caffeine coursing through their veins squirrely Joes is energized by their calling and emboldened to model their Relentless faith based in only Illinois their association with the endangered white squirrel isn't just a novelty it's a reminder that his majesty can appear in the most unexpected places in a humble squirrel through a chance conversation and even in a simple cup of joe share coffee serve humbly live Faithfully squirrely Joes is owned and operated by Joe Morris his wife Rachel and their seven children they believe in being a truly Christian business where Christ is in the DNA of the business Joe also believes in living Coram Deo that means before the face of God in every aspect of life Joe is also a pastor of a small Reformed Church and both Joe and Rachel are veterans of the U.S Marine Corps and U.S army respectively they believe that Christians should be building a thoroughly Christian economy by doing business with other like-minded Christians the coffee is also fantastic so don't delay visit squirrelyjoes.com to order your coffee today again not squirrelyjoes.com to order your coffee today all right so let's go ahead and look at some scripture this is first Thessalonians chapter four if you're joining us I just now with the live stream we're talking about a post-millennial view of the Rapture uh the post-millennials do believe that there is a rapture we deny that there is a secret Rapture but we do believe in a Rapture of sorts and so I want to go ahead and explain the post-millennial view from the scripture what that Rapture looks like so this is first Thessalonians chapter four starting in verse 13. this is where the Apostle Paul is he's talking about the coming of the Lord and what happens to those who were Christians who were in The Lord through faith but who have fallen asleep that is those who have died what about loved ones who are Christians who have died he's offering a sense of consolation and comfort to his hearers saying those who died in the Lord are not utterly and finally lost okay verse 13 first Thessalonians 4 beginning in verse 13. but we do not want you to be uninformed Brothers about those who are asleep that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope for since we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so through Jesus God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep for this we declare to you by a word from the Lord that we who are alive who are left until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command with the voice of an archangel and with the sound of the trumpet of God as the dead in Christ will rise first then we who are alive who are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will always be with the Lord therefore encourage one another with these words that's the end of the chapter so that's first Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 13 through 18. okay a couple things to point out here number one um it's interesting that it says uh that we will be caught up those who are alive so first the dead in Christ that they'll be resurrected brought out of the tombs and that they will be caught up to meet the Lord then secondly so first the dead in Christ then those of us who are still alive at his coming so whenever the Lord comes whatever generation that's in everyone who has been a Christian but already dead they will first be resurrected that'll be the first sequence of events but then secondly those who are currently still alive on the planet who are also in the Lord Christians after the dead in Christ are raised then those who are still alive in Christ will be caught up okay now the word uh that that's significant for our discussion today is that phrase two words caught up that's the rapture um caught up and and that kind of concept and wording it's it's interesting because there's a very similar phrasing and certainly the same concept and principle when Jesus tells the parable of the ten virgins all right so if you're not familiar with that Parable it's the parable where Jesus says you know there are ten virgins and five of them were wise and five of them were foolish and what they were doing is they each had a lamp and they were waiting for the bridegroom there was a wedding that was going to take place and they were going to be honored guests at this wedding and they didn't want to miss it so they're waiting they don't know exactly when what the hour is that the bridegroom will arrive but they know that he's coming and they want to be ready so that they're not shut out of the chapel Hall that they're not shut out of the wedding they want to be to be present there now the five foolish virgins what happens is they're waiting all day but now it's coming into the night and the five foolish virgins they didn't bring extra oil to keep their lamp lit so that they could see in the darkness now that it's night and so they've they've run out of oil and so what they do is they go to the five wise virgins who were prepared and they say give us some of your oil and the five wise virgins they say no I'm sorry uh it's not malicious on the five wise virgins part but they say no if we give you some of our oil then we ourselves may not have enough and then we might both run out of oil and then when the the bridegroom comes we'll all miss them so I'm sorry um so they say no then the five foolish versions of virgins they go into town to buy more oil for their lamps and then they're going to come back but as they go away into town to buy more oil because they were foolish and didn't prepare didn't bring enough the bridegroom comes and when the bridegroom comes he he then comes and meets with those those five wise virgins they go out to meet the bridegroom and then they come in with them and go into the wedding hall and shut the door and the five uh foolish virgins are shut out they miss it now all that being said what's what's significant is this for our purposes in terms of post-millennialism and and the post-millennials view of the rapture when the bridegroom who represents Christ when he comes the five wise virgins uh what the parable says is that when they see him coming they run out to meet him now think about that for a second these five wise virgins who have been waiting for the bridegroom to do what to come to their town the one they're already in they're not waiting for the the bridegroom to come and take them away to another town they've been waiting all day and now in well into the night for the the bridegroom to come into their town the wedding's going to take place in their town but they're still waiting nonetheless to see him at a far off distance so that they might run out to meet the bridegroom be caught up that's actually the same similar wording similar phrasing that these uh these five wise virgins would see the bridegroom coming and before he actually are fully technically arrives in their Town touches down so to speak in their town that they would run out of the town to meet him but then to come back and and what's the purpose of that why not just wait till he gets all the way into town and then say hey great we've been waiting for you well because it's a sense of honoring the bridegroom it's to show Commendation to show honor to show esteem that they're going to go out to meet him so they they would then function as his his accompaniment his welcoming committee to Usher the king or in this case the bridegroom into the town they're going to come out to meet him um you know one one practice that a lot of people don't really do anymore but I think is a wonderful good habit is it uh there was a time you know where not that long ago where if you invited a family over to your house you're going to have a company you're going to have guests um and you invited them at a certain time um instead of just waiting for a knock at the door um you might have waited outside actually you might have waited outside uh in the driveway waiting for them to pull up uh waving you know so when you see them coming you you would be able before they even step out of the car to be able to welcome them and say hello and wave and be warm and and hospitable and then welcome them into your home well so it was with the five virgins they weren't they weren't on the On The Fringe the edge of the town so that they could see the bridegroom because he wasn't going to stop he was going to just pass on by their town and so they needed to be on the edge of town so they could see him and when they saw him run out to meet him to go somewhere else to to the next town which where he was was actually headed as his destination no he's headed to their town he's headed to their town but yet they're waiting it seems as though the picture being conveyed as they're waiting at the edge of town for the bridegroom so that they can spot him before he actually fully gets into town not so that they can run out with him to go somewhere else but so they can run out with him in order to be his welcoming committee to come back to the very same town where these five wise virgins were to begin with that means that how does that apply to first Thessalonians chapter four The Rapture the post-millennial view of the Rapture is that we believe um that those who were first dead in Christ when Christ finally returns his final physical return when that happens that those who are dead in Christ that they'll be resurrected and caught up in the air to meet with Jesus then those who are living whatever generation of Christians are still alive when Christ returns they then will be caught up into the air with Christ and then what's going to happen well the text only says in First Corinth uh first Thessalonians chapter 4 the text only explicitly says then we will be with the lord always it says um verse 17 then we who are alive who are left will be caught up that's that Rapture kind of language caught up together with them that is the Lord and those who were dead in Christ in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will always be with the Lord but it doesn't say we're going to meet with the Lord in the air and so we will then live in the air in the clouds forever no it just says we'll always be with the Lord where though with the with the Lord will be with the Lord we know that but where will we be with the Lord here here we're going to go up like the five virgins going out of this world just like they went out from their town to welcome the Lord that they welcomed the bridegroom we welcoming the bridegroom and the king of all the Earth saying welcome we've been waiting for you and then we're going to become his accompaniment accompaniment his welcoming committee to then turn right back around and Usher the king to his domain this earth made new the new Heavens brought to the new Earth to dwell with him here but that is the rapture in the post-millennial view so what I'm saying is this the post-millennial we do not reject a Rapture in every in all of its forms in the technical sense in the technical biblical sense we believe that there is a Rapture but we don't believe that there are going to be multiple comings of the Lord in the sense that he's going to come in and do a secret Rapture of the church first while the dead in Christ are still dead and buried and then there's going to be you know seven years of tribulation and then he'll come again you just you have to stop for a second and acknowledge that is multiple comings of Christ that's Christ coming once for a Rapture then coming again after the tribulation that's if your pre-trib if you're mid-trib it's still multiple comings it's uh the tribulation starts three and a half years go by then Christ comes for a secret Rapture of the church and then you know those who are living in Christ they're they're alleviated of their suffering they go to be with Christ in heaven somewhere else then you got three and a half years of tribulation still on the clock that clock uh runs out and then Christ comes back again for those who are have converted during those three and a half years and those who are dead in Christ to be resurrected blah blah blah that's multiple comings um that's a secret rapture we believe as post-millennials that there will be a rapture we will be caught up with Christ but it's going to be simultaneous with his final return it's not him coming in a secret way to Rapture only those who are in the church to whereas if you're a non-believer you know you're walking around you know or like the Left Behind series you know you're driving and then all of a sudden there's all these traffic jams and and car accidents because all the Christians you know got got raptured out of the car and there's no one behind the wheel anymore and it just happened and nobody saw it right all the unbelievers none of them saw Jesus no no they'll see him everybody will see him it won't be a secret when Jesus returns he will return in the air the whole world will see him um and and those who were dead in Christ will be resurrected and caught up raptured up with him in the air in the clouds then those who were currently living in Christ Living Christians of that generation when he returns they'll be caught up into the air and then we will welcome the king as his accompaniment his welcoming party his cavalade to Usher the king to touch down to the Earth to his kingdom that has been delivered to him that's the post-millennial view of the Rapture it's not secret and it's also it does not precede his final return so it's not pre-trip or mid-trib um but rather it's it's all one foul swoop it's one event it's it's two things happening happening simultaneously it's the uh the church those who are dead in Christ and then those who are living in Christ the church being caught up raptured to then come with Jesus to touch down so it's it's one so it's Rapture coming Rapture coming landing on on the Earth and the Earth then made new uh the new Heavens brought to the new Earth so that is the post-millennial view of the rapture we don't deny uh we don't say that there is no rapture we believe that um that we will be caught up that is biblical language but we deny a secret Rapture to be caught up and then ushered off somewhere else We believe We will be caught up to meet Jesus at a halfway point for lack of a better phrase in the air Jesus having come from Heaven us having been caught up from Earth meeting him in the air to then um be his his um his welcoming committee as I've already said you know this um this kingly Royal um uh bringing you know declaring uh you know here he here he here comes the king make way for the king and and coming down with him um honoring him esteeming him but also in a sense sharing in his glory as those who have Union with Christ as those who are coheirs sharing with the king in that kingly Royal Glory as he comes and touches down to the Earth um his kingdom being delivered to him and so um that's the post-millennial view of the Rapture so we don't deny the Rapture but we do deny a secret rapture we deny the idea that Christ is going to come secretly that unbelievers won't see him only the church will and that he's going to Rapture us but not actually come and establish his kingdom but just Rapture us and take us somewhere else while something's still going on here on Earth and then he'll come another time um that's not the post-millennial view now to be fair because I can just I know other guys have different escalogical Persuasions might say well post-millennials you still believe in multiple comings and that's true we do we believe you know and everybody does in a sense we believe that Christ came in the Incarnation that was his first coming his Earthly Ministry 2000 years ago so we believe uh all Christians believe that in his first coming um and then dispensational Primo uh Christians depending on whether or not they believe in a pre-trib or mid-trib they believe in not two comings but actually you know it's not a second coming it would be a third coming you know there's uh there's three at least three coming some some Persuasions of dispensation although it's rare it's not the the majority report but some dispensationalists if you break it down it's even four comings and so uh the dispensational premium guy is going to say uh usually three comings um that Christ came in the Incarnation two thousand years ago we all affirmed that then Christ will come second coming in the Rapture but there'll still be more tribulation uh to go and then he'll come his third time when the tribulation is over um and post-millennials likewise we believe in multiple comings the Incarnation that's the first coming of Christ in the Incarnation is Earthly Ministry 2000 years ago um and then and then also uh this coming in a spiritual coming on the clouds clouds signifying judgment in this case uh per Joel chapter chapter 2 that following the first half of Joel chapter 2 Pentecost point out my uh God's spirit on on All Flesh sons and daughters prophesying that happened at Pentecost Peter says that's the Fulfillment of Joel chapter two but then the second half of Joel chapter 2 is that he'll come on on the clouds there will be Billows and clouds of smoke and the sun will be blotted out and turned to blood red that's judgment language and so Joel 2 the first half is Pentecost the second half is Judgment so the the post-millennial we believe that um that Pentecost was a fulfillment of Joel chapter two but then 80 70 was the the uh the second half of that fulfillment of Joel chapter two that there's uh the pouring out of the spirit that acts chapter 2 is a fulfillment of Joel chapter 2 in Pentecost but then 80 70 in the destruction of Jerusalem the temple was the second half of that fulfillment of Joel chapter 2 that it's both that it was Pentecost outpouring of the spirit but then also it was uh judgment and that that was a a coming of Christ it was a local coming not Global to Jerusalem it was a local coming and it was a spiritual coming but that was in a sense we could say that was a return of Christ so Christ came once in the Incarnation he came twice in 80 70 that's a partial preterist View uh that many post-millennials not all but many post-millennials hold and that was a local spiritual coming and then there will be the final physical worldwide coming of Christ and that will be the Rapture and boom uh touching down on Earth the end of of this gospel age uh the end the culmination the final culmination of human history as we know it at the same time simultaneously one foul swoop Rapture caught up but not to go somewhere else as something still happens here on Earth without us um nope caught up and then touchdown so raptured up just like the five wise version virgins go out to meet the bridegroom and then immediately come right back in for uh for the end of all things so that's a post-millennial view of the Rapture um that you know I mean you can't describe a general view of anybody's position because there's there's always going to be distinctions in multiple different positions sub-categories within a certain category but so not every post-millennial necessarily holds to that but many do many do so all that being said last thing real quick before we go you might have seen some of the some of the controversy online especially with Twitter right now about my book so if you want to check it out and you want to actually give me um a fair chance at explaining myself and uh and not just straw man but actually look at the book and look at the biblical arguments that are made certainly people will disagree and that's fine for Christians to disagree but it's good to disagree fairly to actually know what the position is and to know the biblical arguments and then be able to use the Bible to refute them if you still disagree so check out the book it's called Fight by flight again I'll hold it up fight by flight subtitle is why leaving Godless places is loving Godless places Michael Foster he he wrote um an endorsement Steve days from The Blaze he wrote an endorsement I was on his Show recently talking about the book Meg mashem from the daily wire and Doug Wilson forward it you can go to Amazon.com or you can go to write response ministries.com get a copy of the book and then lastly here's one final word from our last sponsor of the day with the banking 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Channel: Right Response Ministries

Views: 17,945

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Id: 7WiK_kxJe9I

Length: 28min 17sec (1697 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 27 2023