The Apostle Paul states we are saved by hope. If we are saved by hope, then it is important we have the true hope. We think the believers of today have an unscriptural hope, a misguided hope, and that this false hope is preventing the spiritual growth necessary for survival in the coming days of horror. The false hope includes an incorrect vision of the events and purpose of the Day of the Lord.

The false hope of which we are speaking is that at any moment all believers in the Lord Jesus will be removed from the earth and carried up to Heaven. The supposed removal will take place before the government of Antichrist controls the world and before the great tribulation of the last days. The false hope is the hope of the any-moment pre-tribulation catching up ("rapture") of the Christian people.

Let us state at the outset that the issue is not whether the catching up of the believers occurs before, in the middle of, or at the end of the great tribulation. The issue is not accuracy concerning end-time events. If it were we would not waste time attempting to prove our point. We all shall be perfect in the understanding of what is to occur—after the events take place.

Rather the problem is the concept of the "rapture"—that it is a device the Lord will use to deliver His people from Antichrist and the great tribulation. The concept of the catching up taking place in order to remove people from trouble is neither scriptural nor sensible.

Let us point out most fervently that the so-called "rapture" of the saints is not the "blessed hope" of the Christian Church. The "blessed hope" of the Church is the return of Jesus Christ from Heaven and our resurrection from the dead to live with Him. The catching up, the "rapture" as it has been termed, is not an integral part of our redemption. It is a going forth to meet Him after we have been raised from the dead. Have we forgotten this?

The "rapture," as it is being presented, is nothing more than a desire of the adamic man to escape trouble and pain. It is not the historical hope of the Christian Church nor is it a truly godly hope, a desire to be righteous or to be with the Lord Jesus. It is a message of escape, dating from the last century. It is associated with an overemphasis on grace to the exclusion of the necessity for godly behavior and is compatible with the humanistic determination that people must not be allowed to suffer.

The faithful, fiery disciple of Jesus does not seek escape. He wants more of God's fire in his life so he can walk in righteousness and holiness with the Lord Jesus. It is the fleshly, self-centered "believer" who is seeking an escape from all discomfort. The fleshly "Christian" wants to go to Heaven in his unchanged personality, not to the Father as a transformed son.

To be continued.