The Church: Rapture or Tribulation

By Larry M. Collie

There have been a lot of misunderstandings and even arguments within the body of Christ concerning the church and its role during the end-time events that are outlined in the Bible. It really doesn't matter what you or I think if it does not line up with the scriptures. The purpose of this book is to try to answer some of the questions concerning the church and to give scriptural clarity to the misunderstandings that exist within the church.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9798886441796

Book preview

cover.jpg

The Church: Rapture or Tribulation

Larry M. Collie

ISBN 979-8-88644-178-9 (Paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88644-179-6 (Digital)

Copyright © 2022 Larry M. Collie

All rights reserved

First Edition

All scriptures, unless otherwise stated, are taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

The Theories

Spots and Wrinkles

The Second Coming

As It Was and So On

Enduring What?

The Shaking

Equipped for Battle

Final Conclusions

About the Author

This book is dedicated first to my wife, Judy, who has listened to me and supported me for all these years as I have delved into God's Word and tried to diligently dissect the Word. Thank you for believing in me. Second, I dedicate this book to my children and all those in the various churches that we have attended throughout this journey. I appreciate all the input and inspiration that you have given me.

Preface

What does the Bible teach us about the future of the church? As we get closer and closer to the end of this age and the kingdom age of Jesus Christ that is coming upon this old earth, we hear many preachers and teachers who are predicting what they believe will be the future of the church. In this book I hope to examine many of the theories and teachings that are so prevalent in church circles today and try to give some biblical clarity to all the confusion that is out there.

Introduction

For many years, as long as I can remember, there has been much discussion and differences of opinion and, yes, even arguments among many within the body of Christ concerning the church and its role as the end-time events prophesied in God's Word begin to unfold. I think we can safely say that the majority of Christians today would agree that we are now living in the last days that Jesus told us about in his Word. All we have to do to realize this is to turn on the evening news and see all the destruction and peril that is so prevalent in the streets of our cities and towns. Luke 12:53 is being fulfilled right before our eyes: father against son and son against father…mother against daughter and daughter against mother. Matthew 10:22 is also being fulfilled daily in our nation. There is nobody more persecuted and hated today than the Christian. You can be prosecuted and imprisoned today for simply quoting the Word of God. It doesn't matter that it is in the Word of God. If you declare it openly today, it is considered hate speech, and you can be locked up because you dared speak it. It seems that as the time for Jesus to return to this earth draws nearer, the arguments and various opinions about how these things will unfold become more frequent and heated. The purpose for this study is not to add to the arguments or cause more division in the body of Christ but to try to answer some of the questions that have arisen and see what the Word of God says. After all, that is really the only thing that will make any difference when it's all said and done. What you or I think is irrelevant if it does not line up with what God has said in his Word. With that in mind, let us search the scriptures as the Bereans did in Acts 17:11 to see whether these things be so. And if they are, let us also receive the Word with all readiness of mind.

Chapter 1

The Theories

There are three major views being taught concerning the church and its role during the events referred to in the Bible as the time of the end. These three views are known as pretribulation, midtribulation, and posttribulation rapture theories. In other words, the rapture, or catching away of the church, will occur before (pretrib), in the middle of (midtrib), or at the end of (posttrib) the time of great suffering known as the seven-year period of the great tribulation that Jesus himself said would come upon the earth. There are many well-meaning, true Christians who adhere to each of these theories. Obviously, somebody has to be right, and the rest will find that they are wrong in their beliefs. Each of these groups believes that they can support what they believe by certain scriptures in the Bible. The thing that has greatly concerned me for many years is that if someone is a pretrib proponent, they are usually very adamant and close-minded to any other points of view. Most of them can be even rude to other believers who may not agree with them. I have seen this on numerous occasions. There is one pretrib teacher whom I have seen on television programs who became very aggressive to the point of extreme rudeness toward a midtrib and a posttrib teacher who was on the same program. He was so adamant in his presentations of supporting scriptures that he would not allow the other two teachers to get their beliefs presented. I will not identify this man for obvious reasons, but I will say that I was very disappointed in how he presented himself and his beliefs. The other two gentlemen were much more tolerant toward the beliefs being presented by each party. I personally have found that when studying God's Word, which I have been doing for several decades now, if Scripture is studied without preconceived notions and it is read in context and studied with an open mind searching