Partial Rapture

Holy Spirit

The Spirit of God is omnipresent in time as well as space. Yes, when the Bride is removed the "witholding" or henderance toward evil will be removed as well, but there is no place and no time the Holy Spirit does not exist.

Revelation records many who turn to the Lord for salvation during the first part (few years?) of the great tribulation, therefore we know that the "Spirit of Conviction" is still at work bringing salvation to those who will accept. The many punishments of God on the world (before the fall of his wrath) are for to turn those who will accept to God.

 

The Luke passage doesn’t “say”, get saved and you will be worthy. It says, “Watch and pray, that you are accounted worthy.” You can tell me you “think it means” anything you want, but be careful of your wording. And again, I tend to believe the wording that is supplied to us by scripture. That’s a safer bet, I bet.

Luke 21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

And, Revelation was written by John upon direct command of Jesus for the express purpose of,,,

Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his "servants" things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

Revelation was written to believers, not the world or the lost in general. Especially the letters to the seven churches. There were of course unbelievers in attendance in the churches, but they are not being addressed by The Lord. It was written to the saved.

Most of Paul's letters were written to churches to correct unsound doctrine that was beginning to be taught or behavioral practices that were unacceptable for an individual believer or the church as a whole to be involved in. Such behavior causes a child of God to fall "out of good favor" with The Lord, hence hindering his/her fellowship inside the relationship we all have as a child of God. When a child of God becomes disobedient, he/she falls out of fellowship.

 

Too many believers are getting their theology from fictional novels; the Left Behind series. What about all the believers who died with unconfessed sins? Will they be sent back to earth during the "Great Tribulation", or will they be forced to sit outside the banquet hall while the Baptist Briders enjoy the fruit of their legalism?

Luke 13:30 And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.

 

It's okay to knock the Baptist Briders, but at least know what you're knocking. Maybe you'd like to explain why they are legalists, after you explain what you think a Baptist Brider is.

 

Well, first; I never read the left behind series. I don't have time for fiction. Second; all those that died out of fellowship with the Lord are not a part of The Bride, and will fail to be resurrected at the time of the Rapture.

And I didn't start this thread, I merely found it. I only asked if there were any question on the subject since I have spent the last 35 years in study of the Rapture, the last 27? convinced of it being conditional based on the reading of God's Word, 5 years in accumulating all the documentation, then a year writing a book on the subject that we had published 2 years ago next month. I was just trying to share what I have learned with anyone that was interested. I don't expect anyone to change their beliefs since the teachings themselves suggest through silence and omission that the Church as a whole will be almost exactly as it is today on the "night" of the Rapture.

Lastly, it has not one thing to do with "legalism".

Ephesians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, "and" to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

All believers are saints, but not all saints are faithful.

Ephesians 1:2-5
2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places (salvation) in Christ: (Brideship)

4 According as he hath chosen us in him (as spouse and partner) before the foundation of the world, that we should (if obedient) be holy and without blame before him in love: (accounted worthy through obedience. Luke 21:36)

5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ (salvation) to himself, (Brideship) according to the good pleasure of his will,

6 To the praise of the glory of his grace (good favor), wherein he (Jesus) hath made us accepted in the beloved. (The Bride)

The other side of that coin is,,,

Revelation 2:22
22 Behold, I will cast her (Jezebel) into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their "deeds". (not unbelief)

Someone is going into the great tribulation for the "deed" of adultery. An unfaithful spouse is the only candidate.

2 Corinthians 11:1 Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. 2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. (obedience is the only criteria.)

 

Personally I'd prefer a "full" rapture. Half of me stuck in the tribulation whilst the other half is with Jesus just doesn't seem to be too appealing.

 

And I don't know "exactly" what a Baptist Brider is, although from the title I suppose I could now guess. But I had never heard of that before this post.

 

Well, if we're talking prefferences, I was a Pre-Tribber for the first 1/3erd? of my life. I would love for the entire church to be gathered up in one full swoop regardless of their individual disobediences and lack of fellowship to the Lord. I would love all of my immediate family that has fallen asleep, (off the top of my head, about 22), and all of my living loved ones (say about 55) to be caught up in the clouds of heaven to meet the Lord.

Sadly, my Bible won't tell me that.

(And there's no half and half.)

 

Baptist Briders, those who I know personally, believe that only members of "true" New Testament churches(those who agree with them) will be at the Supper of the Lamb & in the New Jerusalem as the Bride of Christ. They also believe in an uninterrupted succession of Fundamentalist churches to the First Century which gives them unequaled divine right to Biblical authority in all things. There are other unScriptural teachings surrounding this cultish doctrine, but you can Google the rest.

Catholic monks & priests also study the Word for decades, but that does not make their conclusions right either. We are baptized by the Spirit into the Church & Body of Christ. All believers are equal priests in the holy priesthood established by the blood & sacrifice of Christ. Partial rapture theology is yet another attempt at self-exaltation by a certain sect within the Body.


"But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you"

"And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last."

 

Well, I wont be compared to a monk for obvious reasons.

But my sister has some proplems with what I teach even though she still loves me. My mother was the most saintly woman that ever walked God's earth, and she "fell asleep" before I became aware of these teachings.

But both of them are/were in as close fellowship with the Lord as any believers that ever were or are. Belief in the "partial rapture" or "baptist brider doctrine" has nothing to do with being included in the Bride of Christ.

There's going to be a lot of people that think these teachings obsurd, that will be right beside the ones that teach it on that day. Probably more of ya'll than there are of us, but there will be hundreds of thousands, maybe millions left out.

 

The Baptist Bride idea grows out of Landmarkism. It holds that the only true New Testament Churches are Baptist (and those which hold similar doctrines and practices. Only Baptists, therefore, comprise the Bride, and only Baptists will be seated at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. All other believers, though part of the Kingdom, will, as one Landmark preacher told me, "have to stand around and watch."

I am not a Baptist Bride kind of guy, but I do have some Landmark tendencies. I won't get into all of its ecclesiology in this thread, since it has nothing to do with the subject at hand. But since you brought it up, I felt those who had never heard of it should have accurate information. It is neither cultic nor legalistic.

 

There is no such thing as soul sleep. Their spirit/soul has its place in heaven (and the Kingdom), and at the point of death, that is where the spirit/soul goes. But they are not a part of the Bride.

 

What most Christians don't understand about our spirit/soul is that we have a spiritual body. In this physical world it has no substance, but in the Spiritual it has a physicality in that world. (similar to the angels, although they are different and were never "breathed into" by Jehovah, only created with a spiritual body and life [or a soul] and only have a duality in existance as oppossed to our triune mirror image of God.

At the marriage supper, all will have their place.

Revelation 19:9
9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

 

Who IS the Bride ?

 

The church.

Ehesians 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.

 

With the current conversation, I don't have time to gather all those passages, but I'll state (in crash course) what every well read Christian should be familiar with and anyone call look them up.

The heavenly hosts, all of them, were created. Nothing was created that Jehovah/Jesus didn't create. Man was the only creation that Jehovah "breathed into the breath of life, and man "became" a living soul." His breath, and in God's image is the reason we are triune. Nothing else is, including the heavenly host (of which the angels are a part). "Angels" were seen in both the Old and New Testaments. They appeared as men, having a physicality even in this world even though we know it to be different than our own. They were also seen with Jehovah and appeared as he did. We can safely assume they were patterned after Jehovah in his creation of them. The "sons of God" (direct creation of)(angels) left heaven and mated with the daughters of men, (Some don't believe this but that is what the scripture says.) and produced offspring. More than once, probably several times. (Not having a spirit, only a physicality, [spiritual body] and life [a soul], they have no "spirit" to pass on to an offspring. That's why the offspring can't be resurrected after death. They have no spirit to return to the body.)

Isaiah 26:14
14 They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.

Of Course. Everything stated is accurate. Your just not looking at the whole passage.

Ephesians 5:22-27
22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

The husband is head of the wife as Christ is head of the Church (the whole Church, every member of it) and he is the savior of the body. (the whole Church is saved)

24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

"subject", in authority under, to be submissive to. It says nothing of her "being" submissive. In fact, she has to be told to submit, it doesn't come natural. We are all inherently disobedient, even after salvation.

25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

Us gents have to be told to love our wives, even as Christ loved the Church, (and gave himself for it. Absolutely.) God/Jesus shouldn’t have to tell us to love our wives, isn’t that why we married them. But again, man (mankind) is inherently disobedient (and a rascal, to put it mildly) by nature.

26 That he "might" sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he "might" present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it "should" be holy and without blemish.

"Might", not will or shall sanctify and cleanse it.
"Might", not will or shall present it to himself.
But that it "should" be holy and without blemish.

There are no absolutes used in the description of Jesus' receiving of the entire Church.

Unfortunately, not all of the Church is without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. Some, much, or even (I believe from my observation and study) most of the Church has defiled itself with the things of this world.

2 Corinthians 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

I thought we were already “received” by the Lord. We’re saved, we have the Spirit living in us, we’re part of the church which is the body of Christ. Is there no consequences for NOT following the directives of the BrideGroom.

EXAMPLE
1 Corinthians 5:1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.
2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.
3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,

(Willful disobedience through the sin of sexual lust, yealding to the temptations of the flesh… the penalty?)

4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

(A picture of the Rapture.)

5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

The guilty party will be handed over to Satan by being left behind at the time of the Rapture, and will be killed by the powers that be at the hand of the anti-christ during the great tribulation, so that his spirit may be saved inside the Day of The Lord.

Or is there another time in history when this event can be placed.