The Rapture According to the Apostle Paul: God’s Guarantee of a Pre-Tribulation Rapture

By Dennis McLelland

The Rapture According to the Apostle Paul: God’s Guarantee of a Pre-Tribulation Rapture

Dr. Dennis McLelland

The” twinkling of an eye,” according to esteemed Bible teacher and physicist Dr. Chuck Missler,
is the time it takes light, at 186,000 miles per hour, to travel through the human eye. This is the
speed at which the Christian’s mortal body will be gloriously transformed into a perfect immortal
body, ready for eternity, as seen in 1 Corinthians 15: 52. When will this take place? At the
rapture of the Church.

My book, “The Rapture According to the Apostle Paul: God’s Guarantee of a Pre-Tribulation Rapture“, reveals that the Biblical rapture of the true Church is ignored and/or misunderstood by much of Christendom. Most Christians have little knowledge of this wondrous promise of God. Many within and without the Christian Church consider the rapture to be a contrived delusion spawned by atheists like Karl Marx in his Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right, 1843: “Die Religion... ist das Opium des Volkes.” (Mistranslated as “religion is the opiate of the masses.”)

The Bible promises that Jesus will remove every born-again Christian from the earth at the pre-tribulation rapture just prior to the start of the prophesized “Armageddon.”. Tragically, the rapture is one of the most divisive and contentious doctrinal issues in the Christian Church. The existence of false gospels that deny the surety of the rapture exacerbates this bewilderment by promoting non-Biblical “theories” within the Christian community.

My book arose from the need to help people understand God‘s plan for mankind. It is designed to help bring comfort and peace to people uncertain of their futures in a world that is coiling out of control. In addition, the sharing of my wife’s ministry (she serves as pastor) has further illuminated the lack of knowledge and understanding about the rapture and the tribulation.

The uniqueness of my book lies in its emphasis on Paul, whom Jesus chose to reveal the Gospel of Grace. This revolutionary Gospel promises salvation to those who believe in the life, death,
burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ; a radical departure from just “believing” in His name as
Peter and the disciples preached in order for the Jews to receive salvation.

I compare and contrast the truth of God’s word against the false gospels; the very “gospels” that
are raging throughout Christendom and seducing millions of Christians from the truth of God‘s word. My book provides a powerful sense of assurance that God will never allow the holy, collective Body of Christ, to endure the terrors of the tribulation. Mine is a message that every true Christian needs to hear!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dennis McLelland
• Release date: May 5, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458032607

Dennis McLelland

Eleanor Roosevelt wrote "Autobiographies are only useful as the lives you read about and analyze may suggest to you something that you may find useful in your own journey through life." There are no mercies that have not been extended to me by God. This brief biographical text extends from the shadows of eternity past when Almighty God first gave thought to my existence. He placed me in my mother's arms on September 13 1946 in a sterile hospital room in the city of Elizabeth New Jersey. World War II had ended one year earlier, and I was entering an entirely new world in a country that was still free and prosperous. My school years were safe, tranquil and full of various adventures. I thought I was in love twice with girls named Dolly and Pat. But I moved on. College called and I answered its beckoning. I attended a small college in Kentucky, graduated after 5.5 years, and started my life in the field of education. I earned Bachelors, Masters, and Doctoral degrees. It has served me well. I was first published at the age of 14 when I published an article in Teamsters Union newsletter in 1960. I am twice-married, blessed now with a wonderful "soul-mate," if you will. Life is very sweet. I have five children and four grandchildren, all in New Jersey. I have published many articles in the area of Christianity; articles in the field of education; books and articles about the Old West; and three Christian related books, all of which can be accessed online. I spent my working life as a high school guidance counselor, and continue counseling now as a Christian Counselor in Vero Beach Florida. At 74 years of age, my mind is sound and vibrant. I plan to continue writing and publishing - Lord willing.

Book preview

THE RAPTURE

ACCORDING TO

THE APOSTLE PAUL

God’s Guarantee of a Pre-Tribulation Rapture

Dr. Dennis J. McLelland

The Rapture According to the Apostle Paul: God’s Guarantee of a Pre Tribulation Rapture.

Copyright © 2020 by Dennis McLelland

All Rights Reserved

Smashwords Edition

License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to the man whom God used to change my life –

Les Feldick

Les has the God-given ability to present God’s Word with clarity, power, surety, and great joy. I was floundering as a milk-fed Christian until our Lord brought me to a television program featuring a tall man standing before a blackboard dressed in a simple short-sleeved shirt

A mark of humility – to be certain

The reader would be wise to search out this gracious, anointed teacher of God’s Word at lesfeldick.org and YouTube.

PREFACE

Why another book about the Rapture and the End-Times? Great question. And here’s the answer:

I had no choice.

Esteemed Pastor and Bible teacher Charles Stanley wrote the following:

"Earthly wisdom is doing what comes naturally. Godly wisdom is doing what the Holy Spirit compels us to do."

I felt an unyielding pressure to write yet another book about the Rapture of the Church. In order to so, it was necessary to blend my God-appointed fervor for glorifying Him by the written word, with my years of study about the soon-to-be realized Rapture.

It can be rightly assumed that when the reader of my book sits down to examine its contents in hopes of learning and feeding their soul and spirit with the truths of God, that it will yield a wonderfully rich diversity of reactions.

The reader will discover a book which devours complacency. It is written in such a way as to churn the lathes of heaven in their hearts. The reader will be confronted with the fierce and terrible reality of God’s horrific judgment upon those earth dwellers who reject Jesus Christ to pursue the god who is enthroned in their own hearts – themselves.

For readers who are striding the borders of their own graves by restraining themselves from believing that Jesus Christ died, was buried and rose from the dead [the Gospel], this book has the potential to obviate the stark coldness of loved ones who will eventually utter the following dead, frigid words –"we have graves to dig."

"The Rapture According the Apostle Paul" clings with the greatest tenacity to the strict Word of God as revealed in the Bible.

Just What Is the Rapture?

Perhaps there are readers of this book who have little or no familiarity with the Biblical doctrine of the Rapture.

Similarly, perhaps there are born-again Christians who need to be reminded that Jesus has promised in His Word that He is coming back to earth to call His true Church up to Him where we will meet Him in the atmospheric clouds above.

To those untutored in Bible prophecy, the very concept of the Rapture may sound outrageous, bizarre, or just plain weird.

That is understandable. When a person is devoid of the Holy Spirit in their lives and thoroughly ignorant of all things Biblical, this is a natural reaction.

1 Corinthians 2:14 tells us that:

"The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned."

One of Christendom’s most influential and well-recognized Bible teachers is Dr. David Jeremiah. He clearly and succinctly defines what the Rapture is and how it involves all true Christians in this soon-coming promised blessing.

"The Rapture is perhaps the most important piece of prophecy for us to understand since it could very well impact us personally.

In summary, the Rapture is an event where all who have put their trust in Christ, living and deceased, will suddenly be caught up from the earth, be joined with Christ in the air, and taken to heaven. The Apostle Paul describes the Rapture in 1Thessalonians 4:13-18:

13But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15For 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 not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then 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 shall always be with the Lord. 18Therefore comfort one another with these words.

The word Rapture is derived from the Latin translation of 1 Thessalonians 4:17, which translates the Greek Harpazo [to catch up or carry away] as rapiemur from the Latin rapio. The Greek Harpazo occurs fourteen times in the New Testament with four variations of meaning, each of which contributes to our understanding of what Paul is describing in verse 17: Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with [the dead] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

Further Clarification

First, Harpazo can mean ‘to carry off by force.’ Christ will use His power to remove living or deceased believers from the last enemy – death

Second, Harpazo, can mean to ‘claim for oneself eagerly.’ Christ purchased us with His blood and He will return to claim those who are His.

Third, Harpazo can mean ‘to snatch away speedily.’ The Rapture will occur in the twinkling of an eye [1 Corinthians 15:52]

Fourth, Harpazo can mean to ‘rescue from the danger of destruction.’ This meaning supports the idea that the Rapture will save from experiencing the terrors of the seven-ear Tribulation."

[https://davidjeremiah.blog/what-is-the-rapture]

My years of study and the confirmation by the Holy Spirit that my belief in the Pre-Tribulation Rapture [before the Tribulation actually begins] is indeed completely reflective of what is revealed in the New Testament by the Apostle Paul, have led me to write a book that brings honor and glory to Almighty God.

It is with humility that I present this book to my potential readers. I do so for two primary reasons; to pull those who are comfortably at home on the fringes of their existence from their blindness to God’s Word, and also to bring comfort to those Christians who are simply exhausted from the struggles of this life and who seek the peace of an eternity with their Lord Jesus Christ.

When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense.

"…to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come."

(1 Thessalonians. 1:10)

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1: RISE AND SHINE! YOU’RE GOING HOME!

CHAPTER 2: THE APOSTLE PAUL: THE TIGER OF THE TRIBE OF BENJAMIN

CHAPTER 3: DANIEL’S SEVENTIETH WEEK: THE CALENDAR OF RECKONING

CHAPTER 4: THE ENTRAILS OF SATAN’S LIES

CHAPTER 5: PAUL - THE MASTER BUILDER OF PERFECTION

CHAPTER 6: SAUL/PAUL: THE JERUSALEM HIT MAN

CHAPTER 7: ABIDING UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE ALMIGHTY

CHAPTER 8: BEHOLD - I SHOW YOU A MYSTERY

CHAPTER 9: THAT THE BLIND MAY RECEIVE THEIR SIGHT

CHAPTER 10: JESUS CHRIST - NOT JOHN DARBY

CHAPTER 11: LOOK UP! FOR YOUR REDEMPTION DRAWETH NIGH!

CHAPTER 12: THE UNSEARCHABLE RICHES OF GOD

CHAPTER 13: THE PERFECTION AND SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD

CHAPTER 14: UNDERSTANDING HOW THE GOSPEL WILL BE PREACHED DURING THE TRIBULATION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

SCRIPTUREOGRAPHY

TOP 50 COUNTRIES PERSECUTING CHRISTIANS

The Five Crowns at The Judgment Seat of Christ...

BRIEF AUTHOR BIO

CHAPTER 1: RISE AND SHINE! YOU’RE GOING HOME!

God’s Guarantee That He Will Keep You Out of the Tribulation

Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour, which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon the earth.

Revelation 3:10

"…Behold, the Lord cometh (to earth) with ten thousands of his saints (us!), to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds, which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches, which ungodly sinners have spoken against him."

Jude 14b-15

Our Lord Jesus Christ has just given you promises that Christians will not experience a moment of the tribulation. He that hath an ear, let him hear. Can God’s word get any plainer than what He wrote in Revelation 3:10 and Jude 14-15? Do you believe what God’s word says? Either you do or you don’t. Do you remain uncertain? Read the scriptures again. God is going to keep his Church out of the tribulation!

The key word in God’s magnificent promise in Revelation 3: 10 is the word from. The original Greek rendering is ek. Its Greek definition translates to English as the words from, or, from out of. The reference is found in Strong’s Concordance # 1537. This is the key word that tells you that Jesus will keep you out of the tribulation.

If our Lord Jesus Christ wanted His beloved, blood bought, perfect Bride to go through the tribulation, He would have instructed His angel Gabriel to tell John to use the Greek word dia (Strong’s Concordance # 1223) which means through the hour of testing in the English language. Instead, John used the Greek word ek - from, out of. God’s unmistakable words referenced above in Jude 14b-15 should make it quite clear that only the ungodly will be judged during the tribulation. Yet those who object to what God’s Word says apparently prefer to replace the word ungodly and substitute Godly, in that the Bride of Christ must face the tribulation alongside the unbelievers.

Christians can find wonderful comfort in Genesis 18:25 wherein Abraham asks God the following profound question:

"Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?"

This scripture spells out the perfect justice of our Lord by clearly stating that God will never put the righteous to death with the wicked.

However, be aware that those who take a position other that of a pre-tribulation Rapture will try to convince other Christians that "they are right," and will strive to encourage them to follow their line of thinking, albeit ignoring God’s own words. However, those opposing the Pre-Tribulation position, if they are true born-again Christian, will never relinquish their salvation and forgiveness of sins. It they are truly redeemed, they are God’s children.

Knowing how wonderful and loving our Father is, would it not make perfect sense for Him to have at least warned us in His word that the tribulation and final judgment were definitely in our future? But nowhere in Scripture is it stated that we must suffer through the tribulation. I defy anyone to locate such a scripture while keeping the scriptures in their proper contexts.

God’s word is final. If it’s not in the Bible, it’s not God’s Word. Extra-Biblical theories, Church history, philosophical concepts, and new age ideas, are not scripture. Be very careful to that in which you place your faith - and eternal destiny.

God wrote the Bible to give humanity directions to finding and accepting salvation through believing God’s words. We are expected to believe the message of the Gospel which He gave His Son to deliver to Paul of Tarsus.

Jesus’ Gospel of Grace

What was this new message? It was the Gospel of the ascended Jesus Christ that brings salvation and remission of sins through believing in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Any person who truly accepts Jesus’ Gospel of Grace will never face the tribulation.

View the tribulation through God’s eyes. Let me remind you that there is not one line of scripture in all the Bible that states God’s redeemed children will have to face the tribulation. All true born-again Christians are the Bride of Christ.

Can you ever imagine our Lord, our future Bridegroom, allowing His holy, spotless Bride, who has had all their sins forgiven, to enter the horrors of the tribulation? Similarly, will Jesus permit His Bride to have their heads removed by the antichrist’s storm troopers while Jesus watches impassively from His glorious position on the right hand of His Father’s throne? The Lamb’s Bride? No. We serve a God of love, mercy, and perfect justice.

Would Jesus allow His Bride to be vaporized in a nuclear exchange? For what purpose? Our sins have been forgiven, therefore there is no judgment due us!

Many anti-pre-tribulation Rapture advocates proclaim that the Bride of Christ must go through (Greek word dia) the tribulation to be purged. Purged from what? We were already made perfect when we received salvation. Jesus tells us in Hebrews 1: 3 about how He gloriously purged us from sin:

"Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person (God the Father) and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high."

This verse is yet another guarantee that the Bride of Christ will avoid the tribulation. To repeat. The pre-tribulation Rapture critics state that the Church must be purged of sins, hence the need for the tribulation to straighten us out.

However, when Jesus stated, "he had by Himself purged our sins," He sat down on His Father’s right side, knowing that His tortured utterance of Tetelestai, or, it is finished on the Cross, took away all our sins past, present and future. Jesus was then finally able to rest in heaven after His resurrection and ascension.

The totality and perfection of Jesus’ finished work on the Cross was observed by His sitting down on His Father’s throne to rest from His sacrifice. Another powerful scripture relating to Jesus’ finished work, is found in Genesis 2: 1-2:

"Thus, the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made."

Are you aware that it was Jesus Christ who created the universe and all things in it? Most of Christendom has no idea of this little-known truth found in Colossians 1: 15-16:

"Who (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: for by him (Jesus) were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him."

Two additional scriptures describe Jesus as Creator. The first is Revelation 4:11:

"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word (Jesus) was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made."

John 1: 1-3.

Knowing that Jesus is the Creator of all, including humanity, is it within His holy character to allow satan to torture and kill His redeemed and pure Bride in the tribulation? Further Proof of No Tribulation for Christians

There are several other clear verses in our Bible that bless us with the promise that Christians will not experience the tribulation. The first is found in Paul’s epistle, Romans 8: 1:

"There is therefore no condemnation to them which are in Jesus Christ, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

How could we face the tribulation knowing that we, who are not condemned, must face the horrors of the tribulation alongside those who are condemned? This makes no sense.

Does this position reflect the perfect justice of God? Will God suddenly go back on His word and turn from us when Jesus opens the seals of judgment from His heavenly scroll as described in the book of Revelation? Of course not!

Here are other comforting, reassuring scriptures, which God gives us for our peace as we find in 1 Corinthians 1:8:

"Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ." (Rapture)

"And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever."

Timothy 4: 18

Notice the language - "that ye may be blameless." What was that? Blameless? If we have no blame there is no judgment. If there is no judgment, then there is no tribulation for the Bride of Christ. Also, notice how God promises to "deliver us from every evil work!"

Do you believe the tribulation qualifies as being included in every evil work? Here again is proof positive that the true Church has no place in the seventieth week of Daniel. Looking again at 2 Timothy 4: 18, notice that God guarantees us that Jesus will "preserve me into His heavenly Kingdom." How can the no pre-tribulation crowd rationalize that away?

Our Lord Jesus Is Faithful

Consider this; how could Jesus expect our battered soul and spirit to arrive in heaven burdened with doubt about why He allowed us to go through the tribulation, when He promised in His word that we wouldn’t have to?

Again, can you imagine Jesus watching us suffering and dying from His Father’s heavenly throne and seeing satan reveling in his victory over His beloved Bride for whom He shed His precious blood? Can you?

When Saul (Paul) of Tarsus was struck down by Jesus on the road to Damascus in Acts 9: 5-6, Jesus asked Saul,

"why persecutest thou me? And he (Saul) said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest."

Jesus made it plain to Saul that if he was persecuting Christians, he was similarly persecuting Jesus Himself. All true Christians compose the Body of Christ. We are truly only one body, with Jesus being the Head. The head cannot be separated from the body without death occurring:

"And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things

he might have the preeminence."

Colossians 1:18

Therefore, any attack against Christians is an attack against Jesus. Jesus loves us and calls us His Bride. He will always protect and comfort us. He would never allow us to be embroiled in the tribulation because we are one Body, as seen in Ephesians 1:22-23:

"And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the Church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all."

Since the horrors of the tribulation finds its origin in the perfect justice of God, then Jesus would necessarily subject Himself to the very tribulation planned for Israel and other unbelievers because we are, truly, one Body.

Song of Solomon - Love Letters between Jesus and His Bride

Another wonderful example of Jesus’ love for us is found in the incredible book of the Song of Solomon. This little studied book is a love story between Jesus and His Beloved. A good summary of this book is found in Smith’s Bible Dictionary:

The scope of the song is, under the allegory of lovers upon contract, and intending marriage to shadow out to us that sublime, spiritual, and happy union and communion betwixt Christ and His Church, which is inchoate (only partially formed) in this life and shall be consummate in the life to come. This is carried on dialogue-wise betwixt Christ and His Church…(1)

One of the most beautiful scriptures found in the Song of Solomon concerns the incredible love and protection that we have in our Lord Jesus Christ. The Song of Solomon 2: 10-14, provides a powerful example of the love Jesus has for His Bride. The passage opens with the Bride of Christ (us!) speaking to her love:

"The voice of my beloved! (Jesus Christ) behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills...My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle ( translated turtledove) is heard in our land; The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away…"

Do these beautiful verses sound like a Bridegroom who is about to cast His Bride into the tribulation? Although these verses were written for the Nation of Israel, its beautiful message is timeless, and displays Jesus’ love for those who love Him. We, too, are a part of Jesus’ beloved.

Perhaps the reader is unaware that a true, holy marriage between our Lord Jesus and we, His Bride, will take place in heaven after the Rapture and the Judgment Seat of Christ.

It will be incomprehensively beautiful and spectacular. The King of the Universe, the Creator of all things, our wonderful Savior, is going to marry the Church - His Bride! Revelation 19: 7 tells us of our future wedding:

"Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife (us) has made herself ready."

2 Corinthians 11: 2 also tells of our upcoming marriage:

"For I am jealous over you with Godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ."

When and where will this marriage take place? In heaven! After we receive our new resurrected, eternal bodies (bodies like Jesus’!) at the pre-tribulation Rapture, the entire Bride of Christ (those alive and formerly dead) will be escorted to heaven by Jesus our Bridegroom, with Whom we will remain forever.

However, before we are officially married to Jesus, we must prepare ourselves at the Judgment Seat of Christ. It is not a judgment as we understand the concept; it is an appearance before Jesus Christ Himself. Our sins have already been washed away and forgotten. Therefore, there is no judgment in store for us, as we see in 2 Corinthians 5:10:

"For we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."

As you surmise, it is at the Judgment Seat where we will receive rewards for our earthly service to Jesus from the moment we became Christians. We must be purified of all earthly works that did not bring glory to our Lord.

We cannot enter the perfection and purity of eternity with works that are defiled and do not glorify Jesus. What will remain after this purification? Gold, silver, and precious stones.

"Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble (works); Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."

1 Corinthians 3: 12-15

In addition to rewards, we will receive our heavenly robes (our wedding apparel), as detailed in Revelation 19: 8:

"And to her (us) was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints."

We will look at this most fascinating aspect of our futures in a later chapter.

As incredible as this glorious ceremony will be, we will experience