The resurrection.

There is a great deal about the resurrection, in the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John.

Somehow the Christian churches have lost sight of the resurrection from the dead. Yet, the Apostle Paul set as his goal attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

Now here is a marvel! We seldom hear a preacher emphasize that we have to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Why is this?

The closest thing we have today to the doctrine of the resurrection is the unscriptural emphasis on a "rapture." The reference is to the fourth chapter of I Thessalonians where the Apostle Paul comforted the grieving saints by informing them that their dead relatives and friends would be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air at His return.

What is almost never (or never!) mentioned is that the dead have to be raised, and the living have to be changed into immortality, before being caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

The catching up is not an act of redemption, merely our first experience of living as resurrected people who no longer are bound by the laws of nature.

It is the preceding resurrection (or transformation) that is of supreme importance. It is the destruction of the last enemy. It is the crowning act of redemption.

One cannot be caught up to meet the Lord in the air until he is raised from the dead, or, if alive at the time, changed from mortality to immortality.

My point is, the resurrection (or transformation) has to be attained to.

The Apostle Paul was seeking Christ with all his might that he might attain to the resurrection from the dead. Today the "rapture" is preached as though whoever makes a profession of Christ is suddenly going to be caught up to Heaven. This is a myth, and the sooner God's people discard it the quicker they will begin to prepare themselves for the age of physical and moral horrors we are approaching.

Have you noticed the gains being made by homosexual activists and by abortionists in our courts? You haven't seen anything yet. The same approval will be given to incest, man-boy relationships, and animalism. I see no difference in kind between homosexual behavior and incest, that is, as far as the principles of American law are concerned. Do you? All that is holding back these abominations are public sentiment. And public sentiment is changing fairly rapidly.

No, we are not going to be caught up to Heaven so we won't be exposed to evil. The history of the Christian Church reveals that believers are not caught up to Heaven to prevent their being exposed to sin, torture, or martyrdom. The pre-tribulation rapture is an unscriptural, destructive error.

To be continued.