1. Is the word RAPTURE in the Bible?
2. What is purgatory?
3. The people left behind in the world after Rapture, will they have a chance to accept Jesus?
4. Are we now itself experiencing the troubles of 7 years Tribulation period?
5. The Idol worship followed by Roman catholics is in fact not in accordance with His Ten commandments. If not, why they are still following this worship knowing very well that its against BIBLE.
Will you please explain?
With Blessings...
Answer : RAPTURE
The word 'rapture' is not in the Bible. Many want to make up a argument about it to dismiss the Biblical and apostolic view of the rapture of the end time Church completely. But the fact of the matter is, the concept of the rapture appears in the Bible both in the epistles and in the gospels again and again.
The word "rapture" comes from the Latin word rapturo, which is a translation of the Greek verb "caught up [harpazo.Gr]" that's found in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. It also means "seize", "snatch" or "take away" the Church forcefully out of this earth. The term Rapture is used to refer to the faithful believers being taken up to meet Christ in the air as described in this passage written by the apostle Paul, "15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord." (1 Thess 4:15-17).
English is a beautiful language that has evolved to be an international language because of its ability to adapt itself to the various other languages of the world. Many of the words we use in English have come from various other languages like Latin, Sanskrit, French, etc....so in this case the word rapture is used from latin language to describe the act of the Church being caught up in the air when Jesus comes to rescue it from the Tribulation that is coming upon the whole earth (Rev 3:10; 2 Thess 1:6-8; 1 Thess 1:10). Rapture is a word of comfort for the Church as Jesus has promised the Church to be delivered from the wrath of God that is coming upon all the inhabitants of the earth for their sinful ways upon it (Isa 2:17-21; 1 Thess 4:18). Even the word 'Lucifer' is not mentioned like the word 'Rapture' in the Bible, but nobody will ever want to Biblically deny the existence of Satan and his untimely exit out of heaven when he was thrown out for his pride because the concept is clearly understood (Isa 14:13-15; Ezek 28:16-17). So may we all seek to understand the concept of "Rapture" rather than to fight regarding words and its meaning in the language we understand.
PURGATORY
Purgatory is a unbiblical doctrine that denies the finished work of Christ on the Cross and extends it saying that those who have sinned must make amends for it after death to become sanctified and be fit to enter into heaven. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, Purgatory is “a place or condition of temporal punishment for those who, departing this life in God's grace, are not entirely free from venial faults, or have not fully paid the satisfaction due to their transgressions.” They say that only saints can enter into heaven directly or else all other sinners must enter purgatory and then only after suffering for a while will be fit for heaven. This is totally unbiblical and take away the glory of the absolute sanctification that all believers are entitled through His death, burial and resurrection (Heb 10:9-10, 14). When Christ died He said, "It is finished and a full stop, and did not put a comma saying it is to be continued (John 19:30).
When we come to Christ all of us come to Him as sinners, but after we have come to Christ, all believers are called as saints irrespective of whether some believers have a lot of past sinful habits or less or nothing at all after they were saved. And above all, all believer's are ready to enter into the very sinless Presence of God in heaven the moment they die because of what Christ has done for each of them personally and equally. Salvation is totally by faith in Christ Jesus, or no salvation at all by works no matter how much is done or not (Eph 2:8-9). The Bible says that it is appointed for all men to once die and after that judgment based on whether they have accepted Christ or have rejected Him, for all those who have accepted Him as their Lord and Savior, and expectantly look forward to His secret coming which is only for believers, He will come the second time to rescue them from God's wrath for salvation apart from sin (Heb 9:27-28). Christ Jesus suffered once and for all time for the sins of many so that all might be saved from it to enter heaven forever to be with God apart from their works. Purgatory has no Biblical support even in one place in the entire Bible.
LEFT BEHIND PEOPLE'S SALVATION
Jesus said to all believers of the end time, "36 Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:36). From the above Scripture we can understand that in the end time all those who watch the spiritual climate and pray as believers in Christ Jesus are those who will escape all the wrath of God that is coming upon the whole earth for its sinfulness and rebellion against God (Rev 3:10). Those who will be left behind will be severely persecuted if they choose to believe in the Lord Jesus as their Messiah for salvation and will reject anti-Christ who will be the one world leader at that time. They will have a final chance to accept Jesus at the cost of their own lives as the Scripture says, "15 He [i.e. the false prophet] was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast [i.e. Anti-christ], that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666." (Rev 13:15-18).
All left behind people will have a final chance to either survive on earth to receive the 666-mark of the beast or choose to starve on earth expecting Jesus to rescue them at His Second Coming to the earth or else choose to live in heaven with God forever as they will be put to death if caught by the surveillance scanner of Anti-christ network. But clearly at that time a supernatural angelic message by a third angel will be declared all around the world openly saying, "9 .... with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” 12 Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." (Rev 14:9-12). So we know that at the time of the Tribulation, those saints who die believing Jesus patiently inspite of suffering and death will go on to heaven, but those who look for earthly survival will go eternally to hell fire where the false prophet and Antichrist will become the first occupant at the time of Jesus' Second Coming to this present earth (Rev 19:19-20).
ARE WE ALREADY EXPERIENCING THE 7 YEARS TRIBULATION PERIOD?
I do not believe that we are in the end time Tribulation period because apostle Paul said, "1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?" (1 Thess 2:1-5). At the time when Paul first visited the Thessalonian Church, he himself was believing that God might rapture the Church in his generation as the persecution of the Roman empire was so close to the Anti-christ's end time Tribulation. But as God revealed further truth about the rapture of the Church to apostle Paul, later he visited and explained to the Thessalonian Church the revealed truth from God and what are the further signs that will happen to know that the end has come. But the next time he visited the same Thessalonian Church, it was already targeted by false teachers who came with forged letter with the signature of Paul at the end of it. They told them and confused them saying that the rapture of the Church has already happened and that they are at the time of Tribulation period. Paul came to the Thessalonian Church and corrected their false understanding by reminding them of what he has taught them previously. He clearly reminded them that the day of rapture of Church will not come until first a falling away comes first in all the Church around the world, infiltrated by demonic doctrines of fervent religious kind (1 Tim 4:1-3). Then the man of sin who is Anti-christ will be revealed to all believers who will be watchful and prayerful at that time, and he will sit in the temple of God in Jerusalem which will be built at the end time, then he will boast to the whole world that he himself is god the messiah of the whole world. So we the end time Church now know just as the Thessalonian Church that we cannot be in the Tribulation time until these things happen first as Paul the apostle has prophesied.
The 7 year tribulation period is made up by Theologians of the past and cannot be supported Biblically. The 7 year period can only be called as Daniel's 70th Week which has been paused by God until the time of the end will start (Daniel 9:24-27; 12:4, 9). Actually nobody can know when the actual Tribulation length of God's wrath will exactly take place according to God's pre-planned timetable in which it will start and end (Matt 24:22), but generally we know that it will happen only after we the end time Church will leave the earth (1 Thess 1:10). Praise the Lord! But, I also believe that we are in the time of birth pangs that Jesus prophesied just before the Daniel 70th week will start prophetically (Matt 24:3-14; 13:1-13, 28-31, 32-37; Luke 21:29-36). All the catastrophic and cataclysmic destruction of apocalyptic proportions that we have been seeing in the past decade, which has been increasing more and more each day is nothing but the beginning of birth pains of the end time (Matt 24:8). Soon within a couple of decades or even less than that, according to me, any time the Tribulation might start as the end times events are increasingly becoming heavier and more frequent in intensity.
WHY CATHOLIC CHURCH PRACTICES IDOLATRY KNOWING THAT IT IS ABSOLUTELY PROHIBITED BY GOD IN TEN COMMANDMENTS?
Exactly as you have said, God has totally prohibited His covenant people from making any images for the purpose of worshipping it instead of worshipping Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24; Deut 5:8). God has promised to take vengeance on all those who break His law and so all the catholics who do idol worship will definitely come under the curse of God even if some of them are sincere in their devotion towards God (Deut 5:7-10). You have really asked a wonderful question by saying if catholic Church is really a Church of God, why are they openly worshipping idols against the very Bible that they say they follow? Actually, they have printed a misinterpreted Bible for their own practices to justify their false and deceitful doings. Not just you, even apostle John was totally surprised and amazed in the vision that God showed to find the catholic Church as the false Babylon church, here is what he said, "1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” 3 So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. 5 And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6 I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement." (Rev 17:1-6).
The catholic harlot church which practices Idol worship will try to ride the beast of the end time government of Anti-christ. After some time of initial success, both the false prophet and Anti-christ will together hate the catholic Church as it will become a stumbling block against their plan to form a one world religion of their own, and so will be destroyed by them (Rev 17:15-18). The golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of the harlots fornication in the 4th verse of Revelation Chapter 17 is nothing but the idolatry that replaces the worship of the true God in spirit and in truth. Why the catholic Church is practicing idolatry openly against the God of the Bible? Because it is the harlot of the Book of Revelation that God revealed to His apostle John. So rather than asking why, we can be assured to know the truth and be not deceived by these catholic people who still try to deceive true believers with their money with which they lure into it (Rev 2:6, 14-15). The harlot of the catholic church is doing nothing but business in the name of God and so let us not only stay away from this deception but also warn others who are naively lost spiritually because of its strong influence over them.
There is a story of the conversation between the pope and the chief cardinal that I have heard, the pope said to a chief pious cardinal when he was filled with pride seeing the treasury of the catholic headquarters of Rome filled with gold, "Apostle Peter said, 'Silver and Gold I have none....' but now we have no such problem as we are filled with gold more than anyone on this earth." The pious cardinal replied back to the pope with a righteous anger and shame saying, "Yes you are right Father, but also we cannot say like Apostle Peter, 'what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.'" How true this is, all believers should live like the apostles and not be deceived by the harlot of the catholic Church which will become more and more prominent in the world exactly as prophesied by the apostle John.
Much Blessings...
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