Body: | The Gap Theory refuted: Prophetic clocks can't stop!
The church is part of God's eternal purpose not an after-thought.
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The signs of Matthew 24 prophecies the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD not the second coming and certainly not some "Rapture" theology that was invented in 1830 AD by John Darby. When Christians saw the signs, they fled the city and were saved.
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The Gap Theory refuted: Prophetic clocks can't stop!
The church is part of God's eternal purpose not an after-thought
Introduction:
1. The Gap Theory is a false doctrine taught by
pre-tribulation Rapture advocates.
2. It is rooted in the 70 weeks of Daniel where the clock
stops at week 69, because God did not expect the Jews to reject as their
earthly King, and it starts again when Israel became a nation again in 1948
AD... at least that is how the story goes.
3. The problem is, that you cannot stop the clock with TIME
prophecies. The whole point of the time sensitive prophecy, is that an
event must take place within a specific time. To stop the clock makes the
prophecy fail!
4. While Rapture teachers say that God thought up the church
on the fly only after the Jews rejected Jesus as King, the church is the
eternal purpose of God and will endure for all future eternity.
5. The idea of a church age, if heresy because it implies the
church is a parentheses (a temporary stop gap measure), when in fact the
"church age" began on Pentecost and endures forever.
6. The church is the body of Christ. He is the head, we are
the body. Our salvation is in Christ's body, the church. The idea that
the church will come to an end, is heresy because our salvation is oneness
with Christ's body to be consummated at the great marriage where Christ
is the husband and the church is His bride.
A. Salvation only in the church. If the church doesn't exist we have no
salvation in Christ. The church was part of God's plan hidden in
countless Old Testament prophecies and will endure for all future eternity:
1. The most serious error of the Gap Theory is that it makes
God's eternal purpose for salvation in the church null and void. Harold
Camping, for example, taught that the church age ended in 1988, 40 years
after 1948 when Israel became a nation. He boldly taught until his date of
May 21, 2011 failed, that anyone who was a member of a church after 1988
but before May 21 was of the devil, lost and destined for hell because they
did not obey Camping's divinely revealed "latter Rain" inspiration.
Camping's failed date was judgment not only on a heresy of Latter Rain
theology, but also his gap theory.
2. The difference between the universal church and the local
church is one of function. You cannot destroy and remove the local church
and retain the universal church. They are made of Christians. Camping is so
ill informed of the gospel, that he thinks he can discard the local church
and keep the universal church. This is heresy.
3. Countless Old Testament prophesies describe the church.
God planned the church from before creation and was not an afterthought
after the Jews rejected Jesus as their earthly king. In fact the church was
part of God's eternal purpose in Jesus Christ. Notice the church was in
hidden in the mind of God in all ages past and will exist for all future
eternity:
a. "and to bring to light what is the administration of the
mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so
that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church
to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. This was in
accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus
our Lord, " (Ephesians 3:9-11)
4. The church will exist after the second coming and for all
eternity. The idea that the church age will come to an end, and the church
will be abolished like animal sacrifices is a violation of the most basic
concept of the Gospel of Christ. Notice that God will be glorified in the
church for all future eternity.
a. "to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to
all generations forever and ever. Amen. " (Ephesians 3:21)
5. The church is the body of Christ, who is the head of the
church. To suggest the church doesn't exist means Christ has lost his
"fullness" and is no longer head of the church.
a. "far above all rule and authority and power and dominion,
and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to
come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as
head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him
who fills all in all. " (Ephesians 1:21-23)
b. "He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the
beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to
have first place in everything. " (Colossians 1:18)
6. The church is the revealed Old Testament mystery that the
prophets of God prophesied about through the coming kingdom of Isa 2:1-4
and Dan 2:44. In the church we have both riches and hope. If the church is
extinct we lose our access to the riches of Christ and hope of salvation.
a. "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my
flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling
up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions. Of this church I was made a
minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your
benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God,
that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and
generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed
to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the
Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. " (Colossians
1:24-27)
7. The church is the bride of Christ after judgment day in
heaven for an eternal marriage. Gap theorists like Harold camping leave
Christ, as the groom at the altar by himself because the bride never shows
up! Notice in Eph 5:23-32 the close relationship in the analogy between
Christ and the church; husband and wife.
a. Christ is the savior of the body, the church: Eph 5:23
b. Paul emphases that while the oneness of husband and wife is a
mystery, it is the marriage of Christ and the church that he considers a
greater mystery! "THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. This mystery is great;
but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. " (Ephesians
5:31-32) According to Harold Camping, suddenly in 1988, Christ just walks
away from his marriage relationship and leaves his bride high and dry to
fend for herself!
c. The church is married to Christ at the second coming: "Let
us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the
Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." It was given to her
to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is
the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, "Write, 'Blessed
are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.' " And he
said to me, "These are true words of God." " (Revelation 19:7-9)
8. We proclaim the Lord's death every Sunday in church with
the Lord's supper till Christ returns. Harold Camping had the
proclaimation of the death of Christ end in 1988. For 23 years between 1988
and 2011, Camping did not obey the command to have weekly communion:
a. "On the first day of the week, when we were gathered
together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the
next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight. " (Acts 20:7)
b. "In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying,
"This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink
it, in remembrance of Me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink
the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. " (1 Corinthians
11:25-26)
9. We are commanded to give a freewill offering of money
every Sunday while in church. Camping disobeyed the Lord's command and
redirected all the weekly contrubutions to church to himself and his 200
million dollar per year radio ministry.
a. "Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed
the churches of Galatia, so do you also. On the first day of every week
each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no
collections be made when I come. " (1 Corinthians 16:1-2)
10. Jesus said that the "Gates of hades (death) not prevail against
the church", yet Camping says Satan now controls every church on earth
and to leave all the churches.
a. "I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I
will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. "
(Matthew 16:18)
11. The church is where we find our salvation. If the church
doesn't exist, we have no salvation in Christ: "For the husband is the
head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself
being the Savior of the body. " (Ephesians 5:23)
12. God united Jew and Gentile in church. Has this union been
dissolved? Never!
a. "But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have
been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who
made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,
by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments
contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one
new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body
to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. And He came
and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were
near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens
with the saints, and are of God's household, " (Ephesians 2:13-19)
13. All spiritual blessings "in Christ", in the church. If the
church is gone, then we have no spiritual blessings.
a. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in
Christ, " (Ephesians 1:3)
14. Sins forgiven/redemption "in Christ", in the church. There is
no forgiveness of sin without the church:
a. "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the
forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace "
(Ephesians 1:7)
b. "For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those
who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in
Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory. " (2 Timothy 2:10)
15. We are a new creature "in Christ", in the church. If the
church is destroyed, then so is our new spiritual creature:
a. "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the
old things passed away; behold, new things have come. " (2 Corinthians
5:17)
16. The church is foreseen in heaven after the second coming: "to
the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in
heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous
made perfect, " (Hebrews 12:23)
B. False doctrines from Rapture teachers:
1. "THE CHURCH AGE AS A PARENTHESIS: One of the important
questions raised by the amillenarians is whether the present age is
predicted in the Old Testament. This they confidently affirm and find the
kingdom promises fulfilled in the present church age. Premillenarians have
not always given a clear answer to the amillennial position. While
dispensationalists have regarded the present age as a parenthesis
unexpected and without specific prediction in the Old Testament, some
premillenarians have tended to strike a compromise interpretation in which
part of the Old Testament predictions are fulfilled now and part in the
future. In some cases they have conceded so much to the amillenarians that
for all practical purposes they have surrendered premillennialism as well.
It is the purpose of the present investigation to show the reasonableness
and Scriptural support of the parenthesis concept." (The Millennial
Kingdom: A Basic Text in Premillennial Theology, John F. Walvoord, p 227,
1983 AD)
2. "Nothing could be plainer to one reading the O.T. than the
foreview herein proved did NOT PREDICT a period of time between the two
advents" (The Millennial Kingdom: A Basic Text in Premillennial
Theology, John F. Walvoord, p 228, 1983 AD)
3. "The prophetic foreview of Daniel 2 in Nebuchadnezzar's
image and the fourth beast of Daniel 7:23-27 likewise ignores the present
age. " (The Millennial Kingdom: A Basic Text in Premillennial Theology,
John F. Walvoord, p 228, 1983 AD)
4. "The ultimate proof of the teaching that the present age is
a parenthesis is in the positive revelation concerning the church as the
body of Christ, the study of which will be undertaken next. The evidence
for a parenthesis in the present age interrupting God's predicted program
for Jew and Gentile as revealed in the Old Testament is extensive, however.
The evidence if interpreted literally leads inevitably to the parenthesis
doctrine. The kingdom predictions of the Old Testament do not conform to
the pattern of this present age. ... Those among the premillennial group
who see clearly the issues involved would do well to divorce themselves
from the amillennial method in dealing with the prophetic word, and
interpret the prophecies of the Old Testament in relation to the millennium
rather than the present age. " (The Millennial Kingdom: A Basic Text in
Premillennial Theology, John F. Walvoord, p 230, 1983 AD)
C. Basic errors of the pre-tribulation Gap theory:
1. The idea that the church was "not the subject of Old
Testament prophecy" is rank heresy. The church was the Old Testament
mystery revealed in the New Testament.
2. Prophetic time clocks cannot stop when dealing with time
prophecies. Its like saying, In 12 hours the sun will turn blue. Then at
the 11th hour, you stop the clock for 2000 years and start it again because
of a guess based on some world event like Israel becoming a nation.
3. Physical Israel becoming a physical nation again is what
is "not the subject of Old Testament prophecy". Starting the clock
again in 1948 AD is wild unfounded, unbiblical speculation.
4. There are four key time prophecies in the Bible that
predicted the coming of the Kingdon in 33 A.D. on Pentecost. These
prophecies are time sensitive and stopping the clock makes them fail:
a. Jesus said the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at
hand: Mk 1:15. You cannot extent this for 2000 years because it makes the
time sensitive statement fail.
b. Jesus said that his disciples would live to see the kingdom
with their own eyes and before they died the Kingdom of God that was
prophesied in the Old Testament would be established: Mk 9:1
c. Daniel saw a vision of four human kingdoms and prophesied
that the Kingdom of God would be established during the days of the Roman
empire of 63 BC to 396 AD: Dan 2:44
d. The 70 weeks of Daniel 9, although symbolic periods of time,
are concurrent and sequential. To have 69 weeks representing about 550
years from the descree of Cyrus to the first coming of Christ, then a gap
of 2000 years and the last week begins in 1948 is absurd.
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Conclusion:
1. The Gap Theory is rank heresy and infidelity because it
makes God's plans and prophecies fail!
2. You cannot stop a prophecy clock, especially when it is
about TIME PROPHECIES.
3. The church is not a "parentheses", an "after
thought" when the Jews (to the complete surprise of God) rejected Jesus
as their early king and instead crucified Him.
4. The church was part of the Old Testament plan from ages
past hidden in the mind of God and revealed in the New Testament as the
vessel of salvation for mankind.
5. There is no salvation outside of the church, which is the
body of Christ.
6. If the church became extinct in 1988, so did our eternal
salvation.
7. Harold Camping is an agent of Satan when he tells everyone
in the world to leave all the churches because Satan is in them. Harold,
Satan is outside the church, where you are telling your lemmings to follow
you! Salvation is in the church. There is no salvation outside the church.
Now that May 21, 2011 has past and Campings prediction for the end of the
world failed, it is time for Camping to admit he was totally wrong about
everything, including everything he believes as doctrine including Latter
Rain Theology, Pre-tribulation Rapture, and Calvinism.
8. It is a sin to miss weekly attendance in a local church,
even though the world has the idea that we can have Christ apart from the
church.
a. "let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and
good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of
some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day
drawing near. " (Hebrews 10:24-25)
9. God will have glory in the church for the same length of
time he will have glory in Christ: forever!
10. Find a good, bible believing church in your own home town, that
teaches the full gospel of Christ and has weekly communion and collections.
Steve Rudd
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