Not So, Brother Hassell! (3)

In this posting we will begin to look at the four passages given by Sylvester Hassell and which, according to him, supposedly threaten mere temporal punishment or destruction; And if, according to him, they rather threaten an eternal punishment or destruction, then, "Arminianism" will be proven to be true. Those passages are these:

"If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land; but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword." (Isa. 1:19)

"If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye, through the spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.." {Ro 8:13} 

"How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?" {Heb 2:3} 

"If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.." {1Jo 2:7}

Isaiah 1 & Salvation

"If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land; but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword." (Isa. 1:19)

Remember Hassell's proposition:

"If the conclusion in these sentences means eternal punishment, than Arminianism is true."

Questions For Discussion

1. Can the language of the Lord be applied to eternal salvation? Is it scriptural to say "if ye be willing and obedient you shall be saved from sin"? Or to say "if ye refuse and rebel you shall be not be saved from sin"?

2. Do the scriptures ever promise salvation to the unwilling and disobedient? Do they ever promise salvation to those who "refuse and rebel"?

3. How does one become "willing and obedient" towards God?

4. Is there more than temporal destruction in view when the threat says - "you will be devoured with the sword"?

5. Though the "sword" may be a Gentile nation which conquers Israel (Babylonians, Persians, etc.), is not the sword behind the human sword the "sword of the Lord" (the instrument of divine vengeance and retribution)?

6. Will not all the unsaved be "devoured by the sword" of divine justice at the second coming of Christ and that denoting their eternal destruction?

In answer to the first and third questions I begin with a rhetorical question: Have not the forefathers of today's PBs often cited the following verses to prove that God in sovereign grace and power makes his people "willing"?

"Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power..." (Psa. 110:3)

"...it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Phil. 2:13)

God's work of grace in the heart, in that work we call regeneration or conversion, makes his people "willing," Since making people willing in the things pertaining to God is the "work of God," it cannot fail being accomplished, can it? The will of the sheep to follow Christ is their choice, but it is a choice that sovereign grace produced in them. A song Christians sing, including some Hardshells, is "O Happy Day." A few lines in that song express these same thoughts and ideas.

O happy day that fixed my choice
On Thee, my Savior and my God!

He drew me and I followed on,
Rejoiced to own the call divine

The drawing was of the Lord and the result of that drawing was that the sinner fixes his choice on Christ and on the Father and "follow on." Discipleship begins with the new birth, and vise versa. Sovereign grace produced that change of heart and mind and drew all attention to Christ and the good news. It is at that point that one first "lays hold of eternal life." (I Tim. 6: 12) Faith receives Christ and his life and his healing power.

God not only works in the sinner and saint "to will" in the things of God, but also "to do," so that both "willing" and "obedient" are the effects of that sovereign act of power. These same lost Jews were described throughout the prophesy of Isaiah. They were ever described as being "unwilling."

"For these are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the LORD’s instruction." (Isa. 30:9 NIV)

Isaiah 1 Context - Who does God address? 
Is it not the unregenerate Hebrews?

"The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward." (vs. 3-4 kjv)

"From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment." (vs. 6)

"Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah." (vs. 9-10)

These people, though God's people in name, by virtue of the Abrahamic and Sinatic covenants, were not God's people in heart and spirit, by regeneration and renewal through the word and Spirit of the Lord. That is clear from the text. These people do not know God. If they had been regenerated and had God living in them, then they would have known him. The LORD describes them as evil, depraved in every whit, and unregenerate as the Sodomites.

The quasi Universalist Hardshells will often argue that any time God addressed the Jews as "my people" that this signified that he was addressing them all as his spiritual people. To argue that these are the Lord's born again people because he called them "my people" would put every Jew in Heaven, from Jezebel and Ahab to Judas! Not to mention his description of them in the above words given to Isaiah. If you make these people regenerated children of God, then you have become virtual Universalists. You have adopted a "no change" or "Two Seed" view of "regeneration," or what some called a "hollow log" indwelling of the Spirit and life of the Lord.

Is God addressing regenerate or unregenerate people in the above words? Will our PB brothers tell us?

And, what of these words of the LORD to Isaiah?

"Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." (vs. 16-20)

These words show that the depraved ones addressed were still in their sins, still filthy. That is why the LORD exhorts "wash you" and "make you clean." The Hardshells reject the obvious interpretation of the passage in denying that the washing and cleansing recommended was that initial cleansing that comes when one is born again, called, and joined to Christ. Why do they do this? Because they have a proposition that says - "people are never commanded to do anything in their regeneration or in their preservation and perseverance, or in anything connected with eternal salvation." This proposition leads them to deny that faith or believing has anything to do with eternal salvation because people are commanded to believe or have faith in God. The same with repentance. Men are commanded to repent, therefore, using Hardshell reasoning from their man made premise, it cannot have anything to do with being eternally saved. Further examples can be imagined.

We have often pointed out how the scriptures, contrary to PB statements, command men to be renewed or regenerated. See my posting Make You A New Heart for proof of this.

Further, how can Hassell and his neo Hardshell brothers say that the above verses can't be dealing with regeneration or eternal salvation when the words - "though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" have historically been cited by their forefathers as dealing with the application of the blood of Christ in washing away sin?

Notice these words from the end of the first chapter:

"Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed." (27-28)

Only a quasi Universalist Hardshell would want to make these words into a temporal redemption!

Now, let me cite from Dr. Gill who will give the real Old Baptist position on the passages that Hassell misunderstands.

From the Introduction to this chapter, Dr. Gill in his commentary wrote:

"This chapter, after the inscription, contains a charge of aggravated sin against the Jews; God's rejection of their ceremonial sacrifices and service; an exhortation to repentance and obedience, with a promise of pardon; a restoration from their sad estate; a prophecy of their restoration to a better; and of the destruction of idolatrous sinners."

He also said:

"...since they were guilty of such dreadful immoralities, 1:11-15 when they are exhorted to repentance for sin, to the obedience of faith, and washing in the blood of Christ, whereby their crimson and scarlet sins would become as white as wool and snow, otherwise destruction must be expected..."

Well, I will take Gill over Sylverster!

Their End Is Destruction

So, is the destruction threatened in Isaiah chapter one a mere temporal one? Notice these other verses in Isaiah where the Lord addresses these same unrenewed Jews:

"Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not." (Isa. 65:12)

This destruction is not restricted to this life! These are the words that the Lord will say to all lost men in the day of judgment. The things that characterized their doings were not characteristic of people who know their God.

"Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not." (Isa. 66:3-4)

"If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart." (Mal. 2:2 kjv)

These verses promise destruction, utter and eternal destruction to those who refuse to believe the Lord and to follow him. It is similar to what we find in the NT. Notice these words of Luke:

"Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles." (Acts 13:26)

These Jews, like those in Isaiah's day, were "unwilling" and "disobedient" to the "word of God" and in doing so they proved themselves "unworthy of everlasting life."

Devoured With The Sword?

Being devoured by the sword of divine justice, where we are physically killed by the Lord, is not a good sign! Think of Annanias and Saphira! The greater threat from Jehovah in this chapter is well captured in that song "He Will Set Your Fields On Fire"!

He Will Set Your Fields On Fire
There’s a call that rings from the throne it springs
To those now gone astray
Saying “Come ye men from your load of sin
There at the altar lay”
Many do not heed that the chains of greed
that their conscience never tire
Be assured my friend if you still offend
He will set your fields on fire

Now if you don’t from sin retire
He will set your fields on fire
You have heard Jesus’ call
And in death your soul must fall
Now my friend if you desire
You may join the heavenly choir
And rejoice with him free from every sin
When He sets this world on fire

You have heard his voice
seen His soul rejoice
That trusted in his grace
You have blushed with sin
as He knocked within
But still you hide your face
From the blessed Lord and His own true word
But still you say retire
Leave the downward path 
kindle not His wrath
Or He’ll set your fields on fire

This, of course, is well pictured in the Book of Revelation relating to the coming day of judgment and great tribulation.

In closing let me cite these words of Paul:

"For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things." (Phil. 3:18-19 kjv)

"Whose End Is Destruction" might be the words to put over the heading for Isaiah chapter one! It tells all men that if they "refuse and rebel," and refuse to "wash you" or "make you clean," or "reason together" with the Lord, then their end will be destruction, both in this life and in the life to come.

One other verse I must cite in closing.

"But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness." (Rom. 6: 17-18)

Question: "was being "willing and obedient" (Isa. 1) part of the experience of "obeying from the heart that form of doctrine delivered"? Yes, of course. And, what was the result of becoming willing and obedient, of obeying from the heart? They were then "made free from sin" and became "the servants of God and righteousness."

Compassion For The Ignorant?

Yes, But Not For The Stubborn

"Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity." (Heb. 5:2 kjv)

As teachers of the truth of God it is necessary to correct sinners in their errors, both in thinking and in conduct. The scriptures were given for "correction" (II Tim. 3:16) and those who teach them are in the business of correcting. Correction often involves "un-teaching," or removing false ideas, before truthful ideas are imparted.

I have often felt pity for many spiritually ignorant ones through the years. I think of how I too was once ignorant in many things, how I was once deceived in areas of Bible doctrine, and I feel compassion for those in the same condition.

But, like the bible men of God, I feel little compassion and have little tolerance for the stubborn, for those who simply rebel and refuse to see the truth. I think Paul expressed this feeling when he said to the stubborn ones in Corinth - "But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant." (I Cor. 14:38)

Peter likewise spoke of some who he said are "willingly ignorant" (II Peter 3:5) about biblical truth. With these we can have little patience. The word of God is to be received with "humility of mind" (Acts 20:19). We should all work hard at having a "teachable spirit."

Said the great Spurgeon:

"First, then, let us think of DAVID AS A PUPIL. God was his Teacher. "O God, thou hast taught me from my youth."

This shows that David had a teachable spirit; and if you had asked him where it came from, he would have said that God gave him a teachable spirit. God is not only the Teacher of our spirit, but he gives us a teachable spirit. Have we all received that precious gift? The "genius of the age" is against a teachable spirit. You would suppose now, to hear some men preach, that Christ said, "Go ye into all the world, and make critics of every creature, and they shall be saved thereby;" but that is not the gospel. I do not so much blame the age for its errors, as for the fundamental error of not being willing to be taught. Men have cast off authority; and wherein authority in religious things is not of God, it is well cast off; but I fear that, in casting off the evil, many have gone far towards casting off even divine authority. No, you are not to think what you like you are not to believe as you please. No man may control you, but God has never given liberty to your thought or to your understanding to be free from his government. What he reveals, you are to accept; to take it as infallibly true, to bow the knee of your intellect before it, to believe that "He teacheth to profit," and to expect the fulfillment of the promise, "All thy children shall be taught of the Lord."

A teachable spirit, although it is despised by many, is a happy spirit; it is a growing spirit; it is a restful spirit; it is a heavenly spirit; and whoever has it, must ascribe the possession of it to the Spirit of God, who leads us into all truth, and makes us willing to be led therein. Oh, that we may have such a spirit, that we shall count it an honor to say, "O God, thou hast taught me"!" (God's Pupil, God's Preacher: An Autobiography - here)

God give us all a teachable spirit and a willing humble mind, one that is willing to repent of errors, and willing for others to examine us in our faith!

“But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” (Isaiah 66:2)

Evangelical Faith Necessary For Salvation

Believing On Jesus

Sep 22, 2015

By Lasserre Bradley, Jr.

(see here - emphasis mine)

How can we really be sure we are saved? Many different ideas are advanced as to how assurance for salvation may be determined. Some assume because they were christened as a baby they are a Christian. Others believe that being a member of a church and participating in some charitable work clearly indicates they are children of God. And it is popularly advocated by many, that if a person believes in any god(s) this confirms he is in God's family. This view is generally held by those who contend that we all worship the same God. Some will say concerning a neighbor or friend, “I know that person is a child of God, because he is very kind and has a good heart.”

But personal opinion and speculation is not where we must go for the information we need.

As always, God's Word is the only authoritative source to which we can turn.

We are warned that there are false prophets and that we must be discerning.

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is in the world” (1 John 4:1-3).

So we learn that every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh—that is He is God incarnate—is of God. John opens his first epistle with a declaration of this truth: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life” (1:1).

Faith In the Word Made Flesh

John describes Jesus, in the beginning of his gospel, in clearly divine terms: “the Word was with God, and the Word was God...and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:1,14). John says we saw Jesus and we touched him. We know this to be the truth, so no denial of the incarnation can be tolerated. Many religions (or secularists) will say Jesus was a good man, or a great teacher, but deny he was God. But writing under the inspiration of the Spirit, John tells us that this doctrine must be identified as the spirit of antichrist.

However, with clarity, John writes: “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him” (1 John 5:1).

While other evidences of grace are described, it is clear there is no evidence of salvation and, consequently, no assurance apart from believing in Jesus.

Many work hard to make a case for the unbeliever, but the testimony of John cannot be successfully disputed. The language is strong and to the point. “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son” (2:22). Jesus’ own words, recorded in John’s gospel, tell us that “all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him” (5:23). And again: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life” (6:47).

The idea of someone believing in the one true and living God, and not believing in his Son Jesus Christ, is foreign to the plain declarations of Scripture. Just because a person is religious and has religious zeal in not an indication that he has been born again and has a relationship with God. Idolatry—worshipping a false god—is not an evidence of grace.

One Way of Salvation

The Jews hated Jesus and accused him of having a devil, because he said he was one with the Father and had come down from above. They felt secure because they were the natural seed of Abraham. But Jesus contradicted them:

“I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you...If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham...If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God” (John 8:37,39,42).

It is not politically correct these days to say there is only one way to God. Christians who confess to believing that are called narrow-minded and bigoted. But that is what Jesus taught, and we have no authority to update his teaching. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Someone may respond, “That just doesn't seem fair to me; I think sincerity should be sufficient.” But the fact remains—it didn’t matter what the Pharisees of Jesus day thought, it doesn't matter what public opinion may be today, or what seems right in our own mind—Jesus is the final authority.

Jesus says the only way to the Father is through him.

John continues to press this theme:

“If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself; he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God hath given of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1 John 5:9-12).

How can anyone conclude that it really doesn’t matter whether you believe in Jesus? Failure to believe the testimony of God concerning His Son is to call God a liar. Failure to believe what Jesus repeatedly taught, that it is the believer not the unbeliever who has eternal life, is to call His teaching false.

The Power and Wisdom of God

What a marvelous change occurs when the Spirit does a work of grace in the heart of the fallen sinner! He now sees his sin and recognizes his need for a Savior. He now sees Jesus as the Son of God, he believes the testimony concerning him, and by faith he embraces him as his Savior. Paul said, “We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:23-24).

When one is effectually called the gospel makes sense.

Whatever objections there may have been previously are removed; the message of “Christ crucified” is now the power and wisdom of God. The soul who felt lost and hopeless finds rest in Jesus. He can say with the hymn writer:

How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
In a believer's ear
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear.

The faith God gives in regeneration is a faith that will not die. There may be seasons of doubt, and moments of an overwhelming sense of unworthiness which brings about renewed self-examination; but the faith that is God’s gift is not a dead faith: it is both given and sustained by divine grace. If you today believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior himself says you have eternal life.

Well now, that is what our Old Baptist forefathers taught! No salvation apart from evangelical faith and repentance!

Elder Lasserre Bradley Jr. On Perseverance

Perseverance of the Saints

May 03, 2019

by Lasserre Bradley, Jr. 

(see here - emphasis mine)

I have been asked is it not inconsistent to declare we believe salvation is all of grace and at the same time believe in the final perseverance of the saints. The question reveals a misunderstanding of the doctrine of perseverance. Salvation is of the Lord. The Father planned it, the Son accomplished it and the Spirit applies it; but the evidence that a person has been born again is that he continues following the Lord.

Perseverance is not a work performed by the sinner as a contribution to his salvation but evidence that he has been saved. 

A true believer may have many failures along the way but he will not finally turn away. “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be manifest that they were not of us” (I John 2:19). The desire of the child of God is to live righteously but  because the old nature has not been eradicated he struggles and often stumbles, but when a person denies the faith it is evidence he never was a true believer.

This Bible truth is a doctrine held by Baptists through the years. The quote below is from the London Confession of 1689 and from the Fulton Confession of 1900. While some of the notes added to the Fulton Confession changed the original sentiment: the section on Perseverance was adopted without change.

The Perseverance Of The Saints

1. Those whom God hath accepted in the Beloved, effectually called and sanctified by His Spirit, and given the precious faith of His elect unto, can neither totally nor finally fall from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end and be eternally saved, seeing the gifts and callings of God are without repentance (whence He still begets and nourishes in them faith, repentance, love, joy, hope, and all the graces of the Spirit unto immortality); and though many storms and floods arise and beat against them, yet they shall never be able to take them off that foundation and rock which by faith they are fastened upon; notwithstanding, through unbelief and the temptations of Satan, the sensible sight of the light and love of God may for a time be clouded and obscured from them, yet it is still the same, and they shall be sure to be kept by the power of God unto salvation, where they shall enjoy their purchased possession, they being engraven upon the palms of His hands, and their names having been written in the book of life from all eternity.

2. The perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father, upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ, and union with Him, the oath of God, the abiding of His Spirit, and the seed of God within them, and the nature of the Covenant of Grace; from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof.

3. And though they may, through the temptation of Satan and of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of the means of their preservation, fall into grievous sins, and for a time continue therein; whereby they incur God's displeasure, and grieve His Holy Spirit, come to have their graces and comforts impaired, have their hearts hardened, and consciences wounded, hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves; yet they shall renew their repentance, and be preserved, through faith in Jesus, to the end.

It is good to see Elder Bradley calling his brethren back to the faith on this issue!

Notice the words of Bradley on the Fulton Confession - "some of the notes added to the Fulton Confession changed the original sentiment."

Post Tribulation Rapture II

"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up (raptured) together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."  (I Thess. 4: 13-17)

This is the chief passage dealing with the "rapture" of the church.  It is, of course, not the only passage which deals with it.  Here are some other passages where it is mentioned.

"And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."  (Matt. 24: 31)

"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him."  (II Thess. 2: 1)

"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."  (John 14: 3)

The rapture or catching away of the elect is that time when they are "gathered" or "reaped."  The Greek word for "receive" (John 14: 3) is "paralambanō" and means "to take," as with the hand.  Some translate the Greek word for "caught away" by the word "snatch."  Thus, the rapture is when the Lord takes or snatches away believers.  This catching away includes two groups of believers.  There are those who are "alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord" and those who have died in the Lord.  These two groups ascend in the air at the same time, as one group.  The former group are "translated" as was Enoch.  Of Enoch we read - "Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him." (Heb. 11: 5)  

It is also evident that the rapture of believers occurs at the time when the Lord comes and when the righteous dead are resurrected.  The translation of the living saints occurs at the same time as the resurrection of the righteous dead.  So, the question of whether the rapture occurs before the day of the Lord begins, or before the day of judgment and great tribulation, is also a question of whether the resurrection of the just occurs before the great tribulation.    Paul discusses this same subject in I Corinthians.  He writes: 

"Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."  (15: 51-52)

When Paul says "we shall not all sleep (die)" he means that some of the elect will be alive when Christ returns and will not die.  By these words he refers to the same two groups of believers as in I Thessalonians 4.  But, though not all believers will die, "all will be changed."  The living believers will be changed (transformed) by a translation while dead believers will be changed by a resurrection.  The change is the same, though the means of the change are different.

At The Last Trump

In our opening passage Paul says that Christ returns "with the trump of God."  It is at the sounding of this trumpet that the living saints are translated and the righteous dead are raised.  In the passage cited above from Matthew 24, Jesus says that it is "with a great sound of a trumpet" that the rapture and resurrection take place.  In the passage in I Corinthians 15, however, Paul says that this trumpet will be the "last trumpet."  Now, a "last" trumpet implies other trumpets.  For one to teach that the rapture and resurrection of believers takes place at the sounding of the first trumpet, or at the sounding of a trumpet that is not "the last," is an error.  What other trumpets does Paul allude to by his reference to "the last trumpet"?  Who can doubt that the "seven trumpets" of the Apocalypse are pointed to?

In our previous series on "The End is Near," we showed that the Book of Revelation is the book of the Second Coming of Christ.  We showed that the time period involving the opening of the seven seals is called "the day of the Lord," "the day of judgment," "the day of redemption," and "the revelation of Jesus Christ."  The opening of the seventh seal involves the seven angels who sound the seven trumpets of the day of the Lord.  According to Seiss and others of the pre-trib school, the rapture and resurrection of believers occurs prior to the opening of the first seal, prior to the sounding of the first angelic trumpet.  Yet, this is to be rejected because Paul clearly says that such will occur "at the last trumpet."  This is detrimental to the pre-trib view!

When we read of what occurs when the seventh and last Apocalyptic trumpet sounds, we find that it is the very rapture and resurrection that Paul had discussed in I Thessalonians chapter four and I Corinthians chapter fifteen.

"But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets."  (Rev. 10: 7)

"And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever...And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth."  (Rev. 11: 15, 18)

Who can deny that what takes place at the sounding of the seventh and last trumpet is the very thing Paul talked about in I Thessalonians chapter four and I Corinthians chapter fifteen?  And what Jesus talked about in Matthew twenty four?  Paul called the resurrection and translation of the saints a "mystery."  John says that it is at the sounding of the seventh and last trumpet that "the mystery of God" is "finished."  It is that time when saints receive their reward.

In the next posting we will continue our review of I Thessalonians 4: 13-17.

(The above was first posted in my series here)

I will sing of my Redeemer!

This is my song! He put it in my heart when he saved me nearly 50 years ago! Truly the Lord "put a new song in my mouth" when he lifted me out of the quicksand of my sins! (See Psa. 40: 2-3)

I will sing of my Redeemer,
And His wondrous love to me;
On the cruel cross He suffered,
From the curse to set me free.

Sing, oh, sing of my Redeemer,
With His blood He purchased me,
On the cross He sealed my pardon,
Paid the debt, and made me free.

I will tell the wondrous story,
How my lost estate to save,
In His boundless love and mercy,
He the ransom freely gave.

I will praise my dear Redeemer,
His triumphant pow’r I’ll tell,
How the victory He giveth
Over sin, and death, and hell.

I will sing of my Redeemer,
And His heav’nly love to me;
He from death to life hath brought me,
Son of God with Him to be.

One of the best groups to sing it that I have found so far is sung by Vision Quartet here. Most sing it far too slowly.

Are you lost in sin today? Jesus is the Redeemer and through him only can you find salvation. Trust in him today before it is too late.

Ramifications

We have pointed out numerous times the theological ramifications of Hardshell doctrine and of their man made premises. One of those premises affirms that the actions of sinners or saints are their own, and are not to be attributable to sovereign grace. For salvation to be "by grace," they argue, no human activity must be involved. This reasoning (see Demolishing Hardshell Reasoning) leads them to affirm that any righteous action cannot be by the same kind of grace, or else their prior definition of grace is uprooted.

How many times have we heard the Hardshells say "if salvation is based upon faith and repentance and confession, or perseverance, then it is not by grace but by works"?

But, they fail to see the "ramifications" of such a position. They also fail to see how it contradicts what they say elsewhere. They seem clearly to speak out of both sides of their mouths on this subject and they don't even realize it. Do they not sometimes say that faith is the gift of God and produced by sovereign grace and power? Do they not at other times say that "faith is the work of the creature"?

The ramifications of saying that faith and repentance are not a result of grace are far reaching.

Let me close with another question or two for our Hardshell brothers.

Are any of your religious activities the result of sovereign efficacious grace?

Do you credit God or yourself for your faith, repentance, and endurance?

Acts 18:27 says that the early converts "had believed (the gospel, or evangelically) through grace."

Is Christ's Coming Imminent?

Post Tribulation Rapture I

Is Christ's Coming Imminent?

Those who teach the view that the "rapture" of the church will occur before events of the Book of Revelation, before "the great tribulation" (Rev. 7: 14), styled "pre-tribbers," insist that the coming of the Lord and the rapture have been "imminent" since the Lord's Ascension into heaven in Acts chapter one.  There it was told the disciples - "this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." (1: 11)  According to pre-tribbers, disciples have been expecting the Lord to come "at any time," and that there are no events or signs that must occur before his coming again.  They teach that the disciples have always been looking for the "imminent" return of the Lord.  They also teach that only those who are pre-tribbers are looking for the Lord, while those who are not pre-trib are not looking for the Lord, but looking for signs.  Needless to say, this is a serious charge that must be answered.

It is obvious that the first disciples who were addressed by the angels in Acts chapter one could not have expected the imminent or any time return of the Lord Jesus.  The reason for this is to be found in the words Christ spoke to them just prior to his Ascension.

"And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father...But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." (Acts 1: 4, 8)

The period of time between the Ascension and Pentecost could not have seen the return of the Lord.  He could not have come again in that time period.  His coming then was not imminent in that interval of time between his Ascension and Pentecost.  The coming of the Holy Spirit was to occur before the return of Jesus.  Not only this, the disciples would "be witnesses" unto the Lord Jesus "unto the uttermost part of the earth."  Obviously the return of Jesus would not occur till this witnessing had been done.  In light of these facts, how can pre-tribbers argue that the return of Christ has been imminent since the promise was given in Acts chapter one?  Further, will they charge the first disciples with looking for signs and preceding events rather than looking for the return of the Lord?

Consider also the fact that the old testament believers were "looking for" the coming of the Messiah.  Will the pre-tribbers deny this?  How can they?  Yet, if they admit that they were looking for the coming of the Messiah, how can they deny that they were also looking for things to occur before his coming?  If they admit that things had to occur before the coming of the Messiah, will they charge the old testament believers with looking for signs rather than for the Lord himself?  Did the old testament scriptures not say that "Elijah must first come"?  Was this not fulfilled in the coming of John the Baptist?  Also, Daniel gave his prophecy of the "seventy weeks" in Daniel chapter nine, in which the Messiah was not to come until 69 weeks had transpired from the "going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem."  If the old testament believers could be legitimately looking for the coming of the Messiah and yet also looking for signs of his coming to precede it, then why cannot new testament believers also legitimately be looking for the coming again of Jesus while also looking for things to precede it?  All this simply shows that the charge of the pre-tribbers is simply an unfair and illogical charge.  Those of us who believe that Christ will come after numerous other events and signs are indeed looking for the Lord and to accuse otherwise is unfair and unreasonable.

Jesus prophesied that the Apostle Peter would live to be an old man and would die by crucifixion.  (See John 21: 18-19)  Let us ask the pre-tribbers - "did Peter expect the Lord to come during his lifetime?"  Obviously not. 

For the other chapters in this series see here and the postings for that time (Dec. 2012) I am working on putting these chapters into a single entry (a kind of e-book) on my new web page (www.oldbaptist.org).