MONDAY, May 19, 2008 - Fellow Grenadian, visitors, brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus: And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly towards heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Gal'I lee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. Ac.1:9 & 10. Brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus: This is what he Lord said to me many years ago, and I believed that he did this, because he saw my deep concern about the doctrine of the rapture. "At the coming of the Lord Jesus, a fire shall go forth before him consuming the wicked, but it shall not hurt the righteous." Then I heard a voice from heaven saying. "Will they believe?" Brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus: I had to confirm this statement with the word of God: Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! It shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him. Is.3: 10 & 11. Brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus: Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. Gather my saints together unto me those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. Ps.50: 1 – 5 & Ps.97: 3. (Note carefully (NB) that the order to gather was after he came). And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 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. Mt. 24: 30 & 31. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. Lu.21: 27 & 28. Brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus: I have placed for your edification these scriptures in Ps. 50: Mt. Ch. 24: And Lu. 21: So that one can see clearly the sequence of events, and the consistency in the harmonization of scriptures, that show that the rapture of the church as we call it today, will take place at the very end of the tribulation. "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn from the truth, and shall be turned into fables." Jesus prayed to the Father, "My pray is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one"(Jn:17: 15). Brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus: But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath in the part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.Re.20: 5 & 6. Brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus: Your contention is not with me, it is with the word of God. You will also note that I did not deal with the seven trumpets. Because it is also hard to explain; how the last trumpet, becomes the first Brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus: There is no known writing existing, or referred to by other writers, of the pre-trib rapture teaching prior to 1830. None of the early Church fathers or anyone else throughout church history wrote about the saints being raptured before the end-time Great Tribulation. Reportedly the origin of the pre-trib rapture teaching was with a fifteen –year-old girl named Margaret MacDonald in the town of port Glasgow, Scotland. Supposedly in 1830 she had a dream or vision that Christians were raptured just prior to the Great Tribulation. In 1831 or 1832 a Presbyterian pastor in London, England named Edward Irving heard about this dream or vision that Miss MacDonald had and started teaching it to his congregation. These are well-known reports among scholars of eschatology. Brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus: Since then thousands of highly influential preachers have jumped on the band wagon. In 1970 Hal Lindsey, who attended Dallas Theological Seminary, popularized this teaching with his book The Late Great Planet Earth. Several million copies have been sold and a movie by the same title was made. Brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus: The church is out there, but it is not working at full capacity; and I know that there are some men that are truly desperate to see the Holy Ghost at work. But I have said it before, and will say it again; that God cannot work with lies or deception. If we become idolaters, we will be nonetheless the wiser. The idol is always greater than the admirer. The word of God must be our guide in these last days. Our Lord did warn us about a time of great deception. Today men who once held out for truth and holiness are now preaching all kinds of nonsense; and are not been questioned: and held accountable for their actions. Brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus: I beg In the name of Jesus that you stop deceiving the brethren and let accountability and transparency be the order of the day in your attempt to teach the word of God. If it is not there; then don't invent it. Please don't tell me that Jesus made a mistake, and that Matthew, Luke and John in Revelation also made mistakes. For example(e.g). If the church went up seven years, prior to the tribulation; and then lives and reigns with Christ another thousand years: when we add these two figures together: the answer is 1007 years. If deceit has really taken hold on us, I suppose that we will, unashamedly, find a new trend for argument. By: Osborne Baptiste Inside Grenada Contributor