Worship: For Heaven’s Sake There is no secret rapture! The Bible clearly describes the second coming of Christ as a very visible and very vocal ceremony. (Read more below.)
Wellness: For Health’s Sake The Bible prescribed an anointing ceremony for healing, says Pastor Flemons, who is a doctor of biblical wellness. (Read more below.)
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Words of Encouragement
John 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
Isaiah 49:25 But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.
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For Heaven’s Sake…
Like lightening that shines from the east to the west, so will be “the coming of the Son of man,” says Jesus in Matthew 24:17. That’s globally visible. Jesus continued. “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” Matthew 24:31. That’s both globally visible and vocal.
So how did the secret rapture theory begin? Pastor Flemons explained. The words of Jesus in Matthew 24:40-42, where He says two will be in a field, but “one shall be taken, and the other left,” has been misunderstood. It simply means that although people may be very close, one can be saved, while the other can be lost. A popular theory identifies this as some secret rapture of the saved.
Pastor Flemons further informed us that a Jesuit priest founded the theory to counteract the Protestant Reformation, which has as a pillar of its movement that we need look no further than the popes of Roman Catholicism to identify the Antichrist. Using the one prophetic week (AD 27- AD 34) mentioned in Daniel (9:20-27), the Jesuit priest reinterpreted the week, detaching it from the 69-week prophecy and catapulting it into the distant future. This formed the basis for teaching that the antichrist was to come in the distant future. (More details are presented in the book, How Christ Fulfilled the Law, by Pastor Shelem Flemons.)
It is important to note that antichrist does not mean against Christ, as is typically defined in dictionaries. It is true that the antichrist denies the Father and the Son (1 John 2:22). The denial, however, is not as is typically expected. It is much more deceptive. The Antichrist actually presides in the temple of God. According to the Bible, antichrist means in place of Christ.
2 Thessalonians 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing that he is God.
It is essential to study God’s word pointedly every day. Earnestly seek unbroken communion with Christ, and be persistently and patiently obedient. Studying “to shew thyself approved unto God” helps the Christian “rightly divide the word of truth” and avoid shame (2 Timothy 2:15). The practices of the Antichrist will be fiercely and amazingly deceptive. Christ is clear.
Matthew 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Thankfully, it won’t be possible to deceive the elect. We only need to ask God to help us cooperate with His Holy Spirit in transforming us into His elect. Then daily submit to God, study His word, watch and pray, and determine to obey His word. Only in Him are we safe.
For Health’s Sake…
James 5:14-16 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of the righteous man availeth much.
This is appropriate, says Pastor Flemons, when you have exhausted other remedies without successful healing of disease. This is not practical for the common cold and other simple ailments. This does, however, emphasize the source of true healing. This text is also clear:
John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.