The “Fly Away Doctrine”

Some Glad Mornin’ When This Life is Over… I’ll Fly Away…

When this life is over, true, the commonly taught “rapture” doctrine, however, is false. This website has the “Welcome” statement in the right-hand column on every page. This statement says, “This site is dedicated to furthering the Truth of Jesus Christ and preparing the Saints for the imminent realization that the “rapture” as taught, is wrong.” This statement has gotten more feedback than any other I have made on this site so far, and I have to say this was not entirely unexpected. The teaching of the “rapture” has been so ingrained into the evangelical church for so long that it has been accepted as truth, when the backing for the “pre-trib rapture,” as it is commonly taught, is dubious at best. Before you curl into your ball of comfort in what you think you know and have been taught, please just read this entire page, then pray and think about what is said here. Believe me when I tell you, at this point, it soon very well could mean a choice for your eternal soul…

Before We Continue…

I am a Christian, and what that means should be made clear. This means that any Hope I have for anything good lies in Jesus and Him alone, my works are just like yours are, and as Isaiah 64:6 says, “Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind” What this means is, no matter what name you call Jesus by, whether it is Yeshua, Yehoshua, Iesous, or even Isa or Yishu Masiha, the only thing that matters is whether or not you recognize what He did for you on that cross. If you accept the gift of victory over sin and death that His resurrection gave you, then it will lead you to desire to learn more about Him and why this event had to happen. Then, through His Word, the Bible, and the Fellowship of the Church, you will learn to be thankful for the grace shown to you by the Father, and you will go on to have a relationship with Him in which you continue to let Him work in your life through the Holy Spirit. That is what salvation showing a fruit-filled life looks like, and I say this because it really is that simple, and Jesus made it that way on purpose. You hear the word, because “Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” Romans 10:17, and then you should examine the word like a Berean, “Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true. ” Acts, 17:11. There are groups, however, that see Christianity as something very different than a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and two of these groups are not only theologically wrong, in another post soon, I will write about how their teachings will in fact be dangerous and then deadly, especially when the “rapture” does not happen…

About that “Fly Away” Doctrine…

As is common in the MOTBR, you are once again going to be confronted with one of those uncomfortable truths that we like to make clear from time to time. Since the only way to say it is to come right out and say it, here you go; The mainstream “church” in the United States is as corrupt as the government is, and what I mean to say is that every “denomination” with any sort of centralized body that makes decisions, is a “church” that will allow human ideologies and agendas to impact the way that particular “church” delivers its message. This is how corrupt doctrines have found their ways into every church in this country in one form or another over the years, and you can trust that this was an actual “attack” from outside organizations on the American Evangelical Church, and not just some vague “evolution of doctrines over time.” Remember that the devil will do everything he can to stop the spread of the true Gospel. Matthew 13:38 – 39 says, “ The field is the world, and the good seed represents the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.” All the devil had to do was get his people into leadership positions within the denominations, and then they were able to sit on councils that in turn wrote doctrines. Now, the doctrine of the “rapture” is attributed to mainly one man, John Nelson Darby. According to Darby’s Wikipedia page, “Pre-tribulation rapture theology was popularized extensively in the 1830s by John Nelson Darby and the Plymouth Brethren, and further popularized in the United States in the early 20th century by the wide circulation of the Scofield Reference Bible.”

Like Always…So?

Well here is a funny thing about Mr. Darby, a quick Google search with his name and “Freemasonry” brings up some interesting pages, one is a PDF file that you can find here, in which it says first, “There is no available record of John Nelson Darby (November 18, 1800 – April 29, 1882) having any masonic association, nor is there any reason to suggest that he may have been a freemason. It is curious though, since many of the attacks on Freemasonry come from Dispensational Fundamentalists, that one of their leaders would use Freemasonry to illustrate his teachings.” The article in the Lodgeroom International Magazine, Volume 2 – Issue 7, 2007 then goes on to state several times in which Darby used Freemasonic terms and illustrations in his preaching like this, “Supposing we were a body of Freemasons, and a person were excluded from one lodge by the rules of the order, and instead of looking to the lodge to review the case, if it was thought to be unjust, each other lodge were to receive him or not on their own independent authority, it is clear the unity of the Freemason system is gone. Each lodge is an independent body acting for itself. It is in vain to allege a wrong done, and the lodge not being infallible; the competent authority of lodges, and the unity of the whole, is at an end. The system is dissolved. There may be provision for such difficulties. All right if it be needed. But the proposed remedy is the mere pretension of the superiority of the recusant lodge, and a dissolution of Freemasonry.” (On Ecclesiastical Independency”, The Collected Writings of J. N. Darby, John Nelson Darby. Edited by William Kelly. London: G. Morrish, [1867-1900?] 34 vol.; 8o. vol. 14. p. 305). Darby once even said, “The divine revelation of all God’s thoughts and intentions is in Christ; “the wisdom of God in a mystery,” which word means what only the initiated understand: as in Freemasonry, I do not know anything about it because I am not initiated.” (Deliverance from the Law of Sin”, Collected Writings. vol 32. p. 339.). Now, for someone like me, when I see an article in a Freemasonic magazine like this one extolling the virtues of someone who is using obvious references to masonry in his preaching, while at the same time denying being a mason, well, it starts my alarm bells ringing, and gets me asking questions. When you are able to put together the pieces and realize C. I. Scofield was influenced by Darby, and his “Reference Bible” directly led to the development of Zionism as a mindset of the Evangelical Christians at the beginning of the twentieth century, then even more threads in the end times tapestry begin to show themselves…

But Why?

Think about this, if you were the devil and you wanted to catch as many people as you could with the Mark of the Beast when the clock finally ticked out, what better way to do it than to lie to them about them not even being here when it happens? The devil just had to get his people into the positions that they controlled the doctrines that the churches teach. Think of the immensity of the lie involved in getting the entire Church to believe that all of the times that Jesus warned them that they would suffer for Him, or face persecution for Him, or when He told us to be faithful, even unto death, well, those are not really verses needing to be preached on, because after all, you won’t even be here to see it play out. Unfortunately, this is the track that the clergy in the United States has taken when preaching the end-times. Entire books of the Bible like Daniel, Ezekiel, and Revelation are barely even taught, or when they are taught, it is with an air of “they are complicated and hard to understand.” In fact, these books are there to prepare and warn us about the things we are now starting to face. The truth is, the reason the “rapture” doctrine is taught as extensively as it is, is because of the “comfort” type of preaching that is common in the Church today. If you find yourself asking what I am talking about, I will point you to any number of exhibits as evidence. Names such as Joel Osteen, Creflo Dollar, and Kenneth Copeland come to mind with the term “Prosperity Gospel” following right behind. You see, just like in Jesus’s day, money has corrupted the worship of God, and pastors want to preach a message that will comfort their flock so they are more willing to open the purse-strings for giving to the church. Think about it, can you even picture your pastor, or any pastor really, telling their congregation that they need to start preparing for the end times because the age of digital identification is here and if they comply with it they are taking a chance of being fooled into accepting the mark of the Beast? Not something that would easily make it by the pastor’s council, now is it? To be clear, this is not out of line with Biblical teaching, but still, somehow this preaching is missing from most of today’s pulpits, and again, we ask you why this is.

But Is There More?

Are there are any more verses that point to the “rapture” being wrong as it is currently taught? Well, it is funny you should ask because Matthew 24, 12-14 states, “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Right there it clearly says, “the one who stands firm to the end will be saved…” and more importantly, “…and then the end will come,” right after talking about the Gospel being preached to the ends of the Earth, something clearly associated with the very end of time. But, for some odd reason, these verses are not used when discussing the “rapture.” One of the main scriptures that are used, however, in support of the rapture is 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. After that, 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 will always be with the Lord. ” but the “trumpet of God” that is spoken of here really gives us a vital clue as to the timing of this event often called the “rapture,” and commonly said to happen before the tribulation…

The Trumpets…

Where else in the Bible are the “Trumpets of God” referred to? Revelation 8:1-2 says, “ When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and they were given seven trumpets.” Then, starting in Chapter 8, Revelation begins to relay the timing of the horrifying apocalyptic events that culminate in the Second Coming of Jesus to the Earth. Finally, in chapter 11, verse 15, the final Trumpet is blown, “Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.”

But That is After the Rapture, Right?

Now, when it comes to the book of Revelation, really the only verse that can be used to support the “rapture” is 3:10 “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth,” however, when you take this verse in context, you see that the verses immediately before this state, starting at verse 7, “ To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the One who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door, which no one can shut. For you have only a little strength, yet you have kept My word and have not denied My name. Look at those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews but are liars instead. I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I love you.” What we believe the book of Revelation is speaking of here when it refers to the “Church at Philadelphia” are the saints that stayed true to the word until the end, those that are given the White Robes for their beheading for the testimony of Jesus. The reference to the “synagogue of Satan” has a very definite connotation here that gives this writer reason to think this way, and that will be explained in the above-referenced future post. We also believe that this scripture is referring to a “type” of Church in the “Heavenly Realm,” so to speak, when it talks about the “Church at Philadelphia.” This means that He is speaking using references to real Churches that existed on Earth at one point in the past, but the message he is trying to relay is specifically geared towards groups of people during the end times, this reasoning comes from further reading about the “Church of Philadelphia” in verse 12, “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name” to us at MOTBR, that speaks pretty clearly, and it continues the narrative of “He who perseveres…“

The One Verse That Should Make You Think…

The first verse that was eye-opening for me regarding the so-called “rapture” of the Church and how it could not possibly be a Tim LaHaye, “Left Behind” type of event, was 2 Thessalonians 2:3, “Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness— the son of destruction— is revealed.” To me, this is clear that the antichrist will be here already, and what has come to be known as the “Great Falling away” will have happened already when the “rapture” event does happen. If you think about all the popular stories about what has come to be called the “rapture,” you realize that in all of them, when this “Snatching Away” happens, it is always before the tribulation and antichrist, and this is where the false teaching happens. This “Snatching Away,” which comes from the Greek word Harpazo, which means: snatch away, or sieze, as in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, “After that, 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 will always be with the Lord.” will indeed happen, but only after the final Trumpet sounds…

Two Different Events, Right?

There has been a lot of discussions about the Trumpet, vial, and bowl judgments done in a way to make them appear to be about two different events, somehow, one dealing with the Church, and one dealing with the rest of the world. There have been multitudes of teachings and sermons trying to reconcile the bowl, vial, and Trumpet judgments in a way that brings into the scenario the so-called “rapture” of the Church in order to take it out of the end times timeline. These explanations are always long and complicated. This is all due to Darby, Scofield, and the acceptance of the dispensationalist doctrine. That is the type of convoluted thinking that must be done for the “rapture,” as it is taught, to Biblically happen. There are numerous flowcharts, diagrams, and graphics that have been done over the years to make this “rapture” event, imagined to take place from the 1 Thessalonians 4:17 verse, to happen in a way that makes sense in light of the other prophetic books. What is never said, however, is that if you take the so-called “rapture” teaching out, then you are left with a clear order of events that ends with Jesus returning to Earth, while “in the blink of an eye,” the dead are raised, and those still living rise meet him in the air. It really is that simple. The “rapture” is the thing that makes eschatology hard to understand. It is funny how false teachings always seem to make the scriptures complicated…

A gathering of angels…Appeared above my head…They sang to me this song of hope…And this is what they said…

A Christian should take heed of Second Timothy Chapter 2, verse 15, “Make every effort to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman who accurately handles the word of truth. ” If one thinks on the verses in Matthew 10, then takes especially verses 21 – 23, “ Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.  When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. Truly I tell you, you will not reach all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” It is easy to see how someone who is concerned with eschatology would want to take in all available information and use it when thinking about the end-times, but they should also, as a Christian, “rightly handle” the information, taking it in the context of the Bible.

I thought that they were angels…But to my surprise…We climbed aboard their starship…We headed for the skies…So, What Is “The Rapture?”

The purpose of this particular page is to address the fallacy of the “pre-tribulation rapture,” not to make any point or argument that there will not be a “Snatching Away” at all. On the contrary, the Bible is clear that there will be an event that will take place in the “Twinkling of an eye,” that will see those still on Earth taken into the sky and transformed into a “New Creatures,” while others will be “Left Behind” to face the judgment. The idea that this event somehow takes place before all the other end-times events, however, is conclusively proven by scripture to not be true. The end-times events do happen in a distinct order, and unfortunately for those that still want to think that somehow Jesus is a lottery ticket that will bless them with wealth and prosperity and then is going to “rapture” them out of all of the nasty things that are going to befall those filthy unbelievers, this is just not true. We are all going to go through the tribulation, and if that is true, that means we must all make a choice about digital identity, and maybe very soon…

Yeah, But What Is The Rapture?

Now as to what the “Snatching Away” will really look like, and when it does happen, we think there is a good chance that there is an “Alien Agenda” aspect to this entire field of eschatology that sadly gets disregarded. To us, this is evidenced by the Genesis 6:1-3 verses, and coincidentally verses in Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation as well. If you are the type of person that is inclined to look into things such as the ancient Hindu texts, legends about what may actually be behind the door of Vault – B, the Ruins of Pumapunku, and then ask themselves questions like: Is there really an ancient library under the Sphinx, and, what is up with Mars, and is The Moon really hollow? Well, that type of person might be able to come up with a viable theory as to what “Aliens” really are. See, if there was a race that did not age like us, and they had the ability to “Astral Travel,” at will, in order to wage “Spiritual War” against humanity as a whole, but they also had physical bodies trapped somewhere, ready to be “released” when God says, that would be a pretty good summary of what the Bible essentially says is going on, at least in our opinion, anyway…

Controversy…

I know this is likely to be seen as the most controversial page I have posted as of yet, but like everything I write, I only ask you to pray about what I say, study the scriptures, then determine what you think about what I have said… Trust me, this may be the most controversial thing I have written, but that does not mean I am done…