3 arguments for Midtribulationalism & 5 arguments for Pretribulationalism

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Note: The opening diagram for today's post is found at the following link: www.sunriseonline.ca/sermons/future_imperfect.html

Introduction and Review:
Yesterday we first considered five arguments for a posttribulational rapture. We then followed by proposing five pretribulational counter arguments and an additional five pretribulational arguments that demonstrate why the Bible favors the rapture of the church occurring prior to the tribulation period. In today's post we will follow a similar format in exploring the midtribulational viewpoint in comparison to the pretribulational viewpoint. 

Briefly describing the midtribulational viewpoint
A conservative Bible believing scholar, Gleason L. Archer, describes his midtribulational viewpoint: "It simply regards the first three and a half years, during which the antiChrist will increase his power and mount his persecution against the church, as a lesser tribulation, not nearly as terrifying or destructive of life as those fearsome plagues that will dominate the last three and a half years.  In other words, the interpretation makes a clear division between the first half as the period of the wrath of man, and the second half as the period of the wrath of God." 1 The chart below summarizes this view and derives from the site: christiankonnections.com

With the viewpoint briefly defined, we will lay out three main arguments that one could propose for the position, followed by three pretribulational counterarguments and two additional pretribribulational arguments that demonstrate why the church will not experience the tribulation period at all. 

Three arguments used by midtribulationalists to bolster their view
1. The tribulation period, referred to as Daniel's seventieth week in Daniel 9:26-27, is immediately further defined as being divisible into two periods of 3 1/2 years each.  Daniel 12:11 states: "From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days (i.e 3 1/2 years)." All viewpoints of the rapture agree that the AntiChrist's blasphemy against God will escalate and begin midway through the tribulation period. Thus it stands to reason that the church would be raptured shortly before that event occurs, as indicated in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4.

2. Jesus makes the same distinction about the second half of the tribulation period, calling it "The Great Tribulation" as indicated in Matthew 24:21.  According to midtribulationalists, Jesus speaks about the rapture in Matthew 24:31, closing out His particular discussion on the period of time leading up to His second coming. 

3. When we read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 in light of Daniel 9:26-27; 12:11 and Matthew 24:21-31, it would seem then that the rapture will occur in the middle of the future seven year tribulation period. Furthermore, God's Divine Wrath does not officially begin until the second half of the seven year tribulation period, as seen in its sudden escalation and intensity in the judgment sequences of Revelation 6-19. 

Three pretribulational counterarguments to the midtribulational rapture position
1. Though it is true that Daniel 12:11 and even Jesus Himself indicate the second half of the tribulation being worse than the first half, the rapture event itself is never presented as having any definitive signs that can pinpoint its occurrence. Furthermore, the prophecies of Daniel are referring to God's dealings with the nation of Israel in the tribulation, and nothing whatsoever is said about the church, since it would not be revealed until the New Testament.

2. The weakness of the Midtribulational argument is the same as the Postribulational position on Matthew 24 - namely assuming that the rapture is being referred to by Jesus.  Again the elect being gathered from the four winds in Matthew 24:31 are being gathered by angels and fit the context of Jewish believers being raised at the time of Christ's second advent as marking the tail end of the sequence of events in the resurrection of the righteous. (see Daniel 12:1-2)   Rapture passages such as John 14:1-3 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 have Jesus himself gathering the church saints unto himself, marking an earlier stage in the overall sequence of events that is the resurrection of the righteous. 

3. To distinguish between man's wrath and the Anti-Christ's wrath in the first half of the tribulation versus seeing Divine wrath only in the second half is saying too much. Paul Feinberg, a pretribulational scholar, has pointed out that when Christ began breaking the seals of the scroll in Revelation 6, that began the sequence of events of God's wrath covering the whole seven year tribulation period. Feinberg's point is what began convincing this blogger that a pretribulational scenario, rather than a postribulational ordering was the preferred interpretive method.  Such an argument can likewise be used to critique the midtribulational point of view.2

Two additional pretribulational arguments in light of the above discussion
1. For midtribulationalism to be true, we have to contend with the fact that people are still getting saved even past the mid-way point of the tribulation period.  Why would Christ take church saints but not those other saints? It appears then that the church being raptured out prior to the tribulation avoids such confusion.





2. Let the reader consider 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 as well as the often discussed 2 Thessalonians 2:1-11. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-11 speaks of the tribulation period and the revealing of Anti-Christ. In 2:12-17 we see Paul switching gears to comfort his readers with the truth of their "gaining the glory of Jesus Christ" in 2:12. What does that tell you? That Paul is most likely referring back to his remarks in his prior letter of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, where he spoke to them in similar terms about the rapture.  The rapture event is treated separately from the discussion of AntiChrist in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 because that actually is Paul's whole point: the Thessalonians had not missed it and furthermore would not have to be concerned about going through the tribulation.


Endnotes: 

1. Stanley N. Gundry, Series Editor., Gleason L. Archer Jr., general editor. Three Views on the Rapture: Pre-, Mid-, or Post tribulation. Zondervan. 1996. Page 139.  

2. To read Feinberg's complete argument for pretribulationalism, see his essay "The case for the pretribulation rapture position in the book:
Stanley N. Gundry, Series Editor., Gleason L. Archer Jr., general editor. Three Views on the Rapture: Pre-, Mid-, or Post tribulation. Zondervan. 1996. Pages 45-86. 

Feinberg's remark to which I am referring to in the post is found on page 62 of his essay.  Well worth the read!

5 arguments for Post-tribulationalism & 10 arguments for Pre-tribulationalism

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.


Introduction
In short order today I want to present the reader with 5  arguments given by post-tribulationalists for their position.  The second part of this post will feature five counter-responses and five additional arguments given by pretribulationalists for their position.


5 arguments given by posttribulationalists for their position
Before we begin, let me remind the reader what the posttribulational position is in comparison to other views by way of the following chart from the site: enWikipedia.org:

For many years this writer held to a posttribulational viewpoint and so the following five arguments represent what was most commonly heard or read in print in support of this view:
1. Christ's second advent and the rapture are treated as one event in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4


2. Jesus will accompany his church through the end, which means the church will go through  to the end of the tribulation. He will have His angels gather His elect from the four winds right before the final wrath of God at the end of the tribulation. (See Matthew 24:31; Matthew 28:18-20


3. There are believers in the tribulation period and so it is presumed that they are the church, even though they are not called "the church" in Revelation 7:13-14


4. Saints of God have had to endure suffering throughout all redemptive history.  Thus it should not seem unusual to expect Christians to go through the tribulation period, exempt of course from God's wrath poured out at the end. (See Acts 14:22; 1 Peter 4:14)


5. The posttribulational position is claimed to be the oldest position on the rapture, being that it would had naturally fit with the oldest eschatological view on the Millennium - i.e Premillennialism.


Five counter-responses and five arguments for a pretribulational rapture position
Now that this writer is a pretribulationalist, the following five counter responses to the posttribulational rapture position and five additional affirmative arguments for the pretribulational viewpoint represent where this author stands on the issue. It must be stated of course that the proposed timing of the rapture is not an essential or 1st order concern of the Christian faith, but rather occupies an area whereby we exercise greater liberty and humility toward one another.

Counter responses to posttribulational arguments from a pretribulational perspective
1. When we compare 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 to 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 5:1-11, we discover that the 1 Thessalonians passages are speaking of two distinct events, not one event. Studies of the distinctions between the rapture and the 2nd advent yield their differences.


2. Matthew 24:31 is speaking of the gathering of the resurrected Jewish saints at the end of the tribulation at His second advent, not the rapture of the church.  Furthermore, angels are doing the gathering of the Jewish believers, whereas in the rapture passages it is Christ Himself Who does the gathering. The church age will come to a close then when the rapture occurs prior to or right at the beginning of the tribulation period.


3. To try to advocate pre- or post- tribulationalism from the book of Revelation alone cannot be done, being that the book is focused entirely on the events surrounding Christ's second advent.  With that said, the fact that the tribulation martyrs in Revelation 7 and 14 are not named should give pause to posttriublational interpreters.  For this writer (a pretribulationalist), it is preferred to leave them as the scripture indicates - as people who got saved in the tribulation period and who will be part of the sequence of events of the resurrection of the righteous.


4. Undoubtedly Christians should expect to suffer if they want to be Godly in Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 3:12). However there is a major difference between trials and tribulations and the specific prophetic event termed "The Tribulation" or "The Great Tribulation", wherein the wrath of God will be poured out in increasing measure.  No church age saint will have to endure such wrath and even the tribulation martyrs will be exempt from the extremes forms at the end of the period.


5. This argument from church history is reaching in that the timing of the rapture was not as thoroughly discussed in the first four centuries as it is today.  Yes Premillennialism was the majority report of the early Christians, however the reasons they held to the distinctives of their positions can often times be different from the more nuanced versions of today.  History can be a great aid in measuring orthodoxy, however it is scripture alone that defines such.


Additional affirmative arguments for a pretribulational rapture
6. The pretribulationalist bases his or her view on the fact that God has promised His church that she will not have to endure future wrath. (1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9). The entire seven year period will consist of God's wrath.  Therefore the rapture is the means by which Christ will keep His promises to His church. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 5:1-11)


7. The Holy Spirit's restraining influence exercised currently through the church will be lifted in order to give the Anti-Christ opportunity to be revealed and to work forth his evil schemes. Having a Pre-tribulational rapture seems to best explain how this will occur. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-8)


8. Pretribulationalism ( and to a lesser extent mid-tribulationalism) best preserve the distinction made in the scripture between the rapture of the church and Christ's second advent.


9. The prophetic sequence laid out in Daniel 9:23-27 is particularly for the nation of Israel.  For God to complete His purposes for her, He must needs remove the church from the scene, which now He is using to make Israel jealous. (read Romans 11)


10. Though there can be comfort found in all the rapture/tribulational viewpoints, yet the pretribulational rapture viewpoint achieves Paul's admonition with the least amount of effort in 1 Thessalonians 4:18 "comfort one another with these words".

What elements are involved in the rapture's placement in prophetic events

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17  "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord."


In today's post we are interested in understanding what elements or events are typically considered when discerning the rapture's placement in the ordering of prophetic events. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 stands as the flagship passage on the rapture of the church.  Concerning the interpretive approaches to this teaching, the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology notes:
"The major divisions of interpretation of Paul's words center on the relationship of the time of the rapture to the tribulation period that marks the end of the age. Pre-tribulationalists teach that the church will be removed before the seven-year period that marks the end of the age."


A second group, the midtribulationalists, contend that the church will be raptured during the tribulation after the Anti-Christ's rise to power but before the severe judgments that prepare the way for Christ's return to establish his rule on earth.


Another approach to the problem is that of the posttribulationalists, who believe that the church will continue to exist in the world throughout the entire tribulation and be removed at the end of the period when Christ returns in power."1


The purpose of this post today is not so much to compare and evaluate each of those viewpoints (which will come in a future post). Rather the point of today's post is to explore what Bible scholars, teachers and pastors factor in when arriving at placing the rapture Pre (before the tribulation); Mid (half-way through the tribulation) and Post (near the end or at the end of the tribulation).


1. Premillennialism.
For those who champion either viewpoint, the common ground between all three perspectives is the belief in a literal 1,000 year reign of Christ as recorded in Revelation 20, as well as the teaching of His second advent occurring to set up such a kingdom.2 
chart is from Bible.org


2. Duration of the Day of the Lord or God's outpouring of wrath
The phrase "day of the Lord" figures quite prominently in discussions surrounding the timing of the rapture, being that all are agreed that Christians will not be subject to God's wrath. (1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9). In passages such as Revelation 6-19 we see the unfurling of the title deed to planet earth by Jesus, wherein all the trumpet, seal and bowl judgments are taking place.  Though strictly speaking the rapture is not decisively mentioned in Revelation, other circumstances mentioned lead many scholars to offer up reasons for the rapture being a pre, mid or post-trib event.


Obviously the pretribulationalist will define the entire future seven year tribulation period as comprising the day of the Lord.  The midtribulationist distinguishes the first half of the tribulation from the second half, called by Jesus in Matthew 24:21 as the "great tribulation" - hence the "day of the Lord". The post-tribulationalist looks at the  latter third or tail-end of the tribulation period as being the worst, citing the seven bowl judgments of Revelation 16 as the direct wrath of God or "day of the Lord".  


3. The identity of the "tribulation martyrs" in Revelation 7 & 14
Among Pre and Post-tribulational people is the issue of identifying the believers who die in the tribulation period. Who are they? Pre-tribulationalists will argue that they are not the church, being that the text never calls them such.  Meanwhile Post-tribs will counter by saying that if the Holy Spirit was removed from the earth in a Pretrib rapture scenario, then how would people be experiencing conversion unto salvation. Such an issue factors into discerning where the Bible places the rapture in relationship to the tribulation period.


4. The relationship of the rapture to Christ's second advent
The issue as to whether there is a time delay between the rapture and the second advent will determine which of the above positions is believed. Pre and Mid-trib people see both events as distinguished, almost like a Part 1 and Part two of Christ's return.  Post-tribulationalists see both as composing one and the same event, with virtually no time delay whatsoever. The chart below, from Wikipedia.org visualizes this point:

       5. Interpretation of Daniel 9:23-27 or "Daniel's 70th week" and Matthew 24
All three viewpoints interact quite a bit with Daniel, whereas Mid and Post-tribulationalists see the rapture being spoken of in Matthew 24. Virtuallly all Pre-tribulationalists would say that the rapture is not discussed by Jesus in his sermon on the Mount of Olives in Matthew 24, being that his concern is exclusively with His second Advent, a distinct event from the rapture.

We could probably reference several more elements, however these five tend to be the top ones when reading any books, literature or hearing sermons on the rapture's placement in prophetic events.

Endnotes:
1. Walter Elwell, General Editor. The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Baker Book House. 2001. Page 983.




2. Other schools of thought in regards to the term "1,000" years in Revelation 20 treat the chapter as referring to a symbolic period of time that is occurring right now in heaven and will culminate in Christ's second advent, a general final judgment of believers and unbelievers and then the eternal state of Revelation 21-22. Typically those who espouse Christ's millennial kingdom as occurring right now in heaven are deemed "Amillennial", being that they do not believe there to be a future, literal 1,000 year reign of Christ upon this earth.


A second version teaches that through the gradual evangelization of this world, multitudes of people from every nation will be won over by the Gospel, thus leading history into a "Gospel" golden age (a millennium of sorts). At the end of that undefined period, Christ will return and usher in the eternal state following the final judgment.  Such a view is call "post-millennialism". Amillennialists and Postmillennialist typically do not engage in the rapture debate, being that they do not view the tribulation as yet future, but rather having to do more with a general persecution of believers throughout the ages or as having occurred in the first century when the Romans destroyed the temple in Jerusalem.

Relationship between the rapture and Christ's resurrection

1 Corinthians 15:23 "But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming".


Introduction & review
Yesterday we did a flyover of the Bible's teaching called by Bible teachers and theologians: "the rapture". One of the clearest texts on this event is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. "1 In today's post we want to understand what relationship "the rapture" has to one of the central teachings of the Bible - Christ's resurrection.


Illustrating and connecting Christ's resurrection and the rapture
Understanding "firstfruits"
In Paul's sweeping overview of prophetic events or eschatology in 1 Corinthians 15:23-28, he ties in his entire discussion on the centrality of Christ's resurrection to all the major teachings of last things (eschatology), including the rapture. Paul defines Christ's resurrection from the dead as being the "first fruits", an agricultural imagery taken from the Jewish festival commemorating the ingathering of the first stalks of the barley harvest. (compare Leviticus 23:10-11).


To illustrate what Paul is talking about, I can recall one time a gentleman inviting my wife, children and I to a harvest gathering that he and his family had every year. They raised corn and their farmlands stretched as far as the eye could see. When we arrived, that farmer and his family were standing outside the front of their barn, where row upon row of paper bags lined the front entryway. As folks were pulling up from the community, the farmer and his family would simply hand out a bag full of corn for each family to take home and enjoy. What they were doing was sharing the "first-fruits" of their harvest. Now it would be a couple of months before the final big harvest would occur (More on that in a moment).  But here is the point: those "first-fruits" gave a sample to people of what kind of corn was going to come from those fertile fields of corn.


The organic or logical connection between Christ's resurrection and yet-to-occur resurrections of various groups of saints
When Paul states Christ is the "first-fruits", he is logically and organically connecting Christ's resurrection from the dead to what will be the ingathering of his church at the rapture before the Tribulation period. Another event that shares this same logical or organic connection is the raising of tribulation martyrs and Jewish saints who believed upon Him at His return at the end of the tribulation period. Mark 4:28 confirms this interpretation of "organic connection" - "The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head." Though the stages in a plant's development may very well be separated by chronological time, yet organically speaking everyone recognizes the plant to be one and the same plant; whether seed, blade, head or mature head. What Paul is saying is that Christ's historical resurrection from the dead previews for us what will be those logically and organically connected resurrections that will occur in the future.


How "first-fruits" relates to "final harvest"
As I said earlier, our farmer friend above had invited people to come and partake of the first-fruits of his corn crop. But then there came another event that occurred a couple of months later where that same farmer celebrated harvest with his church. He would invite the people to come for an evening of games, good down-home Gospel music and a testimony from him of how faithful God had been to them in that year. Now over the weeks following that first-fruits celebration, the farmer and his sons went out to gather in that corn in stages. Hundreds upon hundreds of acres of corn needed to be gathered.  It took time, but eventually the entire crop was brought into the silos.


How the rapture teaching fits under the larger umbrella of Christ's resurrection and the resurrection of the righteous
When Paul here writes of Jesus being the "first-fruits", he then says: "after that those who are Christ’s at His coming". That underlined word speaks of what we have been describing all along - an organic connection to the original event.  Hence all those who by God's purposes of grace are called, convicted and who believe on Jesus as Savior and Lord are included in what the Bible calls by the umbrella term: "the resurrection of life" (John 5:29); or "the resurrection of the righteous" (Luke 14:14; Acts 24:15). Just as the farmer and his sons above took several trips out to the fields to gather in that one big harvest, Christ too is described as either participating or overseeing the gathering in of all His chosen people in distinct stages.


We know that the rapture or "gather up" of the church is included in the larger event of "the resurrection of the righteous" because of the fact it is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:50-58, just several verses down stream from 1 Corinthians 15:23. Thus to see how scripture seems to lay this all out, we can use the below diagram to aid us in our understanding:


        The Resurrection of the righteous
Christ's resurrection--------rapture-----------resurrection of Jewish
"first fruits"                      & of church         believers & tribulation
raising of saints in                                                         martyrs
Mt 27:53. 33 A.D

Closing thoughts: The rapture is important due to its connection to Christ's resurrection
Even though the events of Christ's resurrection, the future rapture of the church and resurrection of believing Jews and tribulation martyrs are distinct events, yet they all fall under the umbrella term of "The resurrection of the righteous".2 This truth enables us to see then why the rapture of the church must never be separated from a discussion regarding Christ's resurrection nor His second coming.  I close out today's post with the following statement from 1 Corinthians 15:19-22 "If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. 20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. 21 For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive."


Endnotes:
1. The word translated "caught up" from the original Greek was rendered by the Latin Vulgate, the Bible version used by the church of the middle ages, with the Latin word "rapturo". Being that the earliest English translators and theologians were familiar with the Latin, the doctrinal name assigned to the Biblical teaching of Christ's "catching away" or "catching up" of his church came to be known as "the rapture".


2. Included in this resurrection of the righteous theme is the raising of the saints in Matthew 27:53, which we did not discuss in this post. 

An overview of the Bible's teaching of the rapture

Acts 1:9 - And when he (Jesus) had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

1 Thessalonians 4:17 - Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

What is the "rapture"

    What do we mean when we speak of the believer's catching away by Christ or what is called  "The Rapture"?  The word "rapture" comes from a Latin term "rapturo", which in turn is a translation of the Greek word from the original language of 1 Thessalonians 4:17 - "to be caught up".  A general overview of the Bible's teaching on the rapture will be the focus of today's post.

The reality of the rapture

    Almost no one disputes the reality of the rapture or "catching away" of Christians at Christ's return.  With His return will come the total and unmingled wrath of God on this world.  1 Thessalonians 1:10 and 5:9 remind us that Christians do not have to worry about enduring God's wrath.  Clearly the rapture, much like our physical resurrection, has direct connection to the Lord ascending into Heaven in Acts 1:9.  

No doubt the miraculous ascent of Christ will be repeated corporately in the life of every Christian.  If a Christian has already went to be with the Lord in death, then that saint will be resurrected in a new body and then raptured, followed immediately by the living saints' bodies being transformed and raptured upon Christ's return. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 gives us the fullest treatment of this mass miracle.  Other passages too give hints to the details surrounding this event in passages such as Matthew 24; 1 Thessalonians 5; 2 Thessalonians 2 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-57.

The question about the rapture's timing and occurrence

    The more fundamental doctrine of the Christian's involvement in the resurrection of the righteous is what makes the rapture teaching so important. Though everyone agrees that there will be Christians' bodies raised or transformed at the rapture, we do have one area of which there is no consensus - namely the rapture's timing. 

When studying Bible prophecy or eschatology three headings can be used in categorizing Bible doctrine: definites, positions and opinions.  Definites include those teachings which determine salvation, positions have to do with those areas or distinctives that entire denominations or church groups teach. Opinions of course refer to those areas of Biblical teaching that though important, yet because of relative lack of information result in allowances for legitimate disagreement. In regards to the timing of the rapture, we would have to state that a number of opinions exist as to when it will occur. 

Pre-trib, Mid-trib or post-trib?    

    Three major opinions exist as to when the rapture will occur.  Many Bible teachers point to a period of time in which God's wrath will be unleashed upon planet earth that is called "The Great Tribulation".  From texts such as Daniel 9:23-27, we come to realize that this period will last 7 years.  
Questions of course center around whether or not the church will be raptured "before", "mid-way" or "towards the end" of this period.  The opinions are respectively referred to as "Pre-trib", "mid-trib" and "post-tribulationalism". The diagrams below summarize these positions (from website link: en.wikipedia.com)

   

If space permitted, we could appeal to many texts to rally support for each of these opinions.  Being that the Lord has purposely inserted a "mystery" element into the chronology of prophetic events, piecing together the sequence of events on Bible prophecy can prove challenging.  The reader is encouraged to look at passages such as Matthew chs 13 and 24-25; Daniel 9:23-27; Jeremiah 30; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and ch 5; 2 Thessalonians 2 and Revelation 3,6,7,14 for further study.  

So why does the rapture matter?

    1 Peter 3:15 states - "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear".  Every Christian should have a good enough understanding of what they believe to help unbelievers see the hope of Christ.  This includes where one stands on the rapture.  Whether or not I believe the next big event is the rapture, the revelation of the anti-Christ or some major war does have immediate bearing on how I will live.  Being able to grapple with questions about the problem of evil and suffering, tsunamis and starving children are examples as to why it is our responsibility to live out our theology and have a living theology.

Some marks of God's church

Acts 2:40-42 And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” 41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. 42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Introduction:
Today's post will feature the very first church service ever recorded in the New Testament. The day was the Day of Pentecost. It was a day that the Jews celebrated to mark off the gathering in of the Wheat harvest and to commemorate the giving of the Torah or Law on Mount Sinai in Exodus 19-20. However there was an event that forever eclipsed those two events that occurred in Acts 2, the coming of the Promised Holy Spirit per Jesus' statements in John 14,15,16. 

When the Holy Spirit came, the church was born and the New Covenant Age was inaugurated. In Acts 2:37-47 we see the beginnings of the early Christians coming together.  What they did characterizes some of the chief marks for the church to follow throughout the remainder of the New Testament.  Furthermore, we could say that what we see here in these verses are indeed some mark's of God's church.  In short order we will list some of these marks of God's church and discover what is to be an ongoing, ever intensifying pattern of church life in God's church.  Note some of the following mark's of God's church:

1. Missions.  Acts 2:37-39
As Peter's audience was "pierced to the heart" (NASB) or as it states in the original language "shocked deeply in the heart" in Acts 2:37, we see them ask the question: "Brethren, what shall we do?"  Peter then urges them to respond to the Gospel.  Peter's first sermon here in the Book of Acts aimed at explaining the events surrounding the coming of the Holy Spirit so that He could then evangelize His audience. Missions is not only the first purpose or mark of the church mentioned here, but it is also referred to again in Acts 2:47 



2. Preaching. Acts 2:40 
Acts 2:40 states - And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” It was to be by the vehicle of Apostolic preaching that the Lord would strengthen believers and convert sinners. 1 Corinthians 1:17-18 reminds us - "For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe."






3. Making Disciples. Acts 2:41
In Acts 2:41 the Holy Ghost says - "So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls." Notice how the early church began fulfilling Jesus' Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20.  Such a commission is not just an apostolic commission, but also the Great Commission to His church.  We see: reception of the Word by faith (compare Ephesians 2:8-9), followed by the converts getting baptized.  Thirdly we see some measure of church membership, being that the rolls were kept and "3,000 souls were added". Every ministry in the local church needs to be about making disciples not only in the church, but also in preaching and doing missions to make disciples of all the nations. 




4. Ordinances. Acts 2:41,42,47
What do I mean when I write that term "ordinance"? An ordinance is a pattern commanded by Christ directly to His church in the Gospels, preached upon and practiced in Acts and explained in the Epistles. In the New Testament Church we have two such rites that qualify under that description: water baptism and the Lord's supper. Wherever God's people are gathered together to hear the preaching of the Word, practice the ordinances and are about the Father's business of doing missions, that dear friend marks the existence of the local church. More could be said but we will move on to two more marks of God's church here in Acts 2.




5. Loving fellowship. Acts 2:43-46
When you walk through Acts 2:43-46, you discover just how joyful and loving the early church must have been. These people were "feeling a sense of awe" (2:43); "who had believed were together and had all things in common" (2:44); "were sharing" (2:45); "one mind" (2:46); "taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart" (2:46). Pastor Rick Warren has noted that the Biblical mandate for the church's fellowship is two-fold: "temple courts" or large group worship and "house to house" or small group fellowship. Thus the local church must needs have both preaching services whereby God's people can worship in song and word as well as have occasion to come together in small groups, whether in Sunday School on Sunday Mornings, some time of small groups in homes or small group Bible studies. Both patterns engender loving fellowship in God's church. 






6. Worship. Acts 2:47
Here we see the mark of worship. Worship is ascribing "worthship" to God by way of singing and preaching. Worship is rooted in grace and is aimed towards giving glory to God. Where is it that worship aims? Worship is vertical in its heavenward focus on the Triune God and it is outward focused in energizing people to share Jesus in missions. Amazing isn't it? The Holy Spirit here in Acts ends this chapter with missions and reminds us that from beginning to end, the church should be all about missions. These then are some of the marks of God's church.