THE RAPTURE: TRUE OR FALSE?

The premillenial doctrine of the rapture refers to the supposed time when Jesus comes and receives from earth all the resurrected saints (of both, OT and NT periods) as well as all the saints who are living, and takes them to heaven for seven years. However, this is not the end of time, for the wicked are still living on earth and are bewildered as to the utter disappearance of the “church going” people.
The doctrine of the rapture is false because: the parable of the net teaches that there is no such separation of good and evil until the end of the world. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Mat. 13:47-50).
The doctrine of the rapture is false because: everybody will see Him—not just a portion. Revelation 1:7 declares, “Behold, he cometh with the clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.” But, at the so-called rapture, the wicked living do not see Jesus; and, at His coming after the rapture [point 7 on chart] the wicked dead do not see Him. Thus, the rapture is a false doctrine because when Jesus comes, “every eye shall see him.”
The doctrine of the rapture is false because: ALL nations will be before Jesus at His coming—not just the saints. The Judgment Day of Matthew 25:31-46 begins thusly, “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats:” (vs:31-32), and ends with, “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal” (vs. 46). This account does not fit the rapture because the wicked are there too. It does not fit the coming after the rapture [point 7 on chart] because verse 46 reveals this is concerning the end of earth and the beginning of eternity. Nor does this account fit the end of the 1000 years because verse 31 makes clear that Jesus is just now coming. No, this account does not fit the rapture doctrine because the rapture doctrine is not the Biblical account!
The doctrine of the rapture is false. The Bible does not teach it. Rather, the Bible teaches that life will continue as it is (Mat. 24:36-41) until the Lord returns the second and final time to resurrect and judge all to either eternal damnation or eternal bliss (John 5:25-29).
[Third of six in a series of the misinterpretations of Premillennialism] Gary Henson