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The following is a segment
of Todd Strandberg's
summary (from the Rapture Ready Message Board): The
Church Would Rebuke the Antichrist
"If the Antichrist came to power with
the Church still here, I do not see how he could operate. When Hitler was
fighting to take over England, a number of Christians where praying for victory.
Hitler made mistake after mistake, and England out performed its enemy at every
stage of the conflict. It is difficult to measure the actual impact of
intercessory prayer in physical warfare. Little is known of how great a role
praying saints played in the defeat of Nazi Germany. If the Church were to
reside on earth during the tribulation, I am sure she would give the Antichrist
fits. In Rev. 11:3, the two witnesses give the Antichrist enough headaches
alone. Millions of Christians, who know their Bible well, would recognize the
man of sin and pray fire down on his head. The post-Trib view would have to plan
on the Church just rolling over and playing dead, the whole seven years."
My comments:
Antichrists are already in the world and
they are operating very successfully because the church is being overcome rather
than overcoming. When THE Antichrist is revealed, the saints of God are to overcome the same way we
have been overcoming all along: By the blood of the Lamb, the word of our
testimony, and by not loving our lives unto the death.
It is true Hitler was a type of antichrist and indeed he
wanted to bring in the New World Order then and there. For an outstanding
biographical account of the Christians involved in interceding against Hitler's
forces against England in particular, please read Rees Howells Intercessor by
Norman Grubb.
Is the church giving the antichrists that are presently
working today fits? Are God's people casting off the works of darkness and putting on the
armor of light so she may combat these antichrists?
Are Christians today "praying down fire upon the
head" of the many antichrists both within and without the church? For the
most part she is not exercising herself unto godliness to overcome the
antichrists already here. Instead, she is either participating in or lamenting
the evil around her and waiting to be taken away bodily from the ultimate
Antichrist even while she is not battling the antichrists that are already here.
The church most definitely would not be able to roll over
and play dead while the Tribulation is going on because there would be no
"playing." She would be really and truly slaughtered by Antichrist's
forces if Satan had his way. And that is indeed his goal: to destroy any and all resistors of his New
World Order.
This does not mean he will achieve his goal. If the Christians
are ready and have put themselves in the place where God can protect them without
violating his own word, some will survive. This is not about chance; this is
about God's ability to protect, which will not suddenly cease during
Antichrist's reign.
If Christians will not repent now and take on the present
antichrists that are already in the world today and have already risen to power,
then they will be utterly destroyed when THE Antichrist is revealed. . . unless
they are taken off the planet.
The question is, will they be removed before the final
Antichrist is revealed or not? Many are convinced they will be. Is this based
upon the actual words of our Lord Jesus Christ or is this based upon symbolism
in scripture that is perceived to mean that? If we are going to hold the Lord
Jesus Christ accountable to bodily remove us from the earth during Antichrist's
reign, then we must have his promise that he would return before the
tribulation. We have his spoken promise recorded that he would return after the
tribulation, but do we have his recorded words of promise that he would return
before? (No.)
Most who believe in a pre-trib rapture admit Jesus'
recorded words are not there but say the idea is presented in scripture if one knows
how and where to look to see a
"before the tribulation" rapture. (For examples of
"extracting a meaning" from scripture that is not there, please see Scripture-Twisting
in the Tim LaHaye Prophecy Study Bible: King James.)
Are you willing to stake the character of the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ upon this? In other words, if the tribulation does begin and
the church is still here will you think Jesus failed us and did not keep his
word? This is the critical question. Would you still believe in and trust
implicitly the Lord Jesus Christ even if he did what he stated forthrightly in
His Word, and returned "immediately after the tribulation"? If
you would not, you are actually primed to become offended and fall away
from the faith.
The pre-trib Rapture doctrine is a doctrine
that one must disbelieve the actual words of the Jesus Christ in order to
believe. If our pastor has mistakenly (or willfully)
deceived us about scripture and symbolism, and if Jesus has not promised to
remove us from this world before the tribulation (and Antichrist is then revealed) then we must
not think Jesus has failed us or lied to us. We must not ask the question,
"Is
Jesus the Christ, or should we look for another?" We must not become
offended in the Truth who cannot tell a lie.
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