I have read that most evangelical/fundamental churches and Christians used to believe in the pre trub rapture. But that in recent decades the belief in the rapture has been shelved or ridiculed as extreme. Certainly, the RCC has rejected it in favor of a general return of Christ and a general judgement of all, believers and non believers Main line protestant and reformed churches seem to also reject it. (Several years aso, I received an email from this Redeemer Presbyterian Church where the speaker was going to show that the rapture, pre trub or not, was false.) But what is shocking is that supposed Bible believing churches that in their SOF's accept the pre trib rapture of all believers; yet in reality, ignore the rapture and tribulation and never seem to approach the subject. A church that I used to attend was going to do a sermon series on the seven churches in Rev 2 and 3; but instead of showing the exciting nearness of our eternal joyful unification with our Lord, the pastor used this to beret the congregation for their shortcomings. What about the wonderful promise from the Lord to the church of Philidelphia that they will never see the wrath of God.? (Rev 3:10) Maybe I have got this all wrong: maybe most Bible believing Christians do still believe in the pre trib rapture of the church; but they are so busy with building projects and pumping their flocks for more and more bucks and trying to shame them if they don't...Maybe the church has become focused on the Rick Warren "Purpose Diven Church" and all its mega bucks, instead of on what it is truly supposed to be; a body of Christ in the Holy Spirit who are pilgrims here in the life and whose main mission is spreading the gospel of salvation thru Christ's death for our sins, his burial, and his resurrection from the dead. Phil Yep many churches now fail to preach on the Blessed Hope/pre-trib rapture event. Or if they do … its more likely they preach the church has replaced Israel and teach the church is going to go thru the tribulation. 🙄 And then you have the other crowd they don’t even believe in the rapture at all … only the 2nd Coming. To deny a pre-Trib rapture is the same of accusing Jesus of being a wife beater. Why does the First commandment come to mind!? TR The prosperity doctrine has really done a number in hindering the Bride of Christ to focus on His coming prior to the tribulation (as Jan says “the tribulation is for the judgement of the Jewish nation”); we are to be about our Father’s business in winning souls to add to the body of Christ as the Spirit leads but we are to be looking for His imminent return according to the signs and seasons. As a pastor, my husband finds more and more of his colleagues turning away from what is contained in 3/4 of the scripture - the rapture of the church — very sad to see and it shows another way that satan has crept into the church to destroy the work of reaching souls. 🙁 To deny a pre-Trib rapture is the same of accusing Jesus of being a wife beater. Now that's screwed up. I take it you're being serious! And that note; GOODBYE! If you never darken this doorstep again, you'll never see this. But let me ask just in case: "What took you so long?" I think it is an interesting topic to discuss, but ultimately there is no way of knowing how many Christians will go. My position is this, even if a church does not preach or teach pre-trib, and even if the individual congregant has never been taught about it or doesn’t believe it - if they are truly born again and spirit filled they will go because it’s all about grace and the removal of the Restrainer- not qualified by whether you actually have been taught or believe the particular doctrine of the rapture or not. For some it will be a great unexpected pleasant surprise I think. Are there born again spirit filled believers in the RCC and other “dead” denominations - probably not in the majority but I would not say there are none either - so it will be very interesting indeed to see who shows up to the party. I am a pre-trib believer...... I believe that there are saved people in the RCC and dead denominations. Not many, but definitely there. My great grandmother came over here on the boat from Italy and was a devout Roman Catholic but she always talked about "my Jesus". She loved Him and it showed. When she was 16 she was in a coma and they were preparing her for burial because they thought she was dead. Apparently late 1800's Italian medicine wasn't what it is today. :mdrmdr: Thankfully someone saw her pinky twitch and they didn't go through with the preparations to bury her. While she was in the coma she says she had an encounter with Jesus. According to her He said "Maria, it is not your time. You have 80 more years". Well, when she was 96 she went to be with Him. Needless to say that encounter had a massive effect on her. So here you have a devout RCC who loved her Jesus. Yes, I absolutely believe there are spirit filled believers even in some of the dead churches.
