The Ohio Independent Baptist, February 1969

"' f::.' l)I' ,<1t l l1atl1 no t a1) J oint ti LtS t< wra tl1 (the great tril1tllati l) t1) , 1Jt tt t <ll1ta111 sa lva ti<)fl (raptt1rc) hy <J ll l..;urtl Jcs t1 ~ hrist" ( I ' J"h ·s~a lonian 5:9). 'lhc uwr,tth" f the prc~clini Vef\C c lc,lrl y has reference to th( great Lr1bulat1on. We are not appoint cd t that bLtl to btain al vati n b, • our Lord Je u hri st; thait i , ap by Rev. John Lineberry poi nlecl to obtain ,the liapture by ou l...orcl Jesu~ hri5.t. The Lo~d Jes t1 RI 1 he nc t grc~\t c, t.:nt 11 G d '. - .. .1lc11J~1r 1 .. the rapt t1rc 1( the cht1r h . 1"'hc l"ngli.., h \\ rd ..raptt1re" i n t ti"cd i11 tl1~ Bible bt1t th t a hing i 111 the B1blt: . he t\\ gre t cl ical raptt1r~ "' riptt1r .. ar I or nthian l - : - 1- -+ and I he alonian 5 : 13-18. " R'"1ptur " riginally e pre d the a t f tran p rting. Today it i ex– pre iv of e t y r joy. Either n1 aning i d criptive of the rapture of th hurch which will take place n a: the cl e of the pre ent age in \\ hich we are now living. Ii vvill be a n1 ment of gloriou tran porting and a t ime of piritual ec t y. When all believer are sud– denly caught up into glory, hope will bur t into reality - all believer will th n experience the fullest joy un- peakable and ineffable glory! The word 'rapture" is a good tran lation of the word "caught up ' in I The salonians 5: 17. That will be a happy day. All believers earnestly anticipate being caught up fr om earth to heaven. Our words "caught up" are from the Greek word hapazo, which h as four meaning : 1. ''To carry off by force.' ' This 6 means that the devil and all his cohorts will do all in their power to keep the saints here on earth. But the Lord Jesus will over– power them delivering us by the omnipotent power at Hi command. The deviil is mighty. The Lord is almighty. 2. ' 'To claim for one's self eagerly." At the end of this present age of grace our blessed Saviour will come for us to claim us as His very own. Because He has re– deemed us by His precious blood and purchased u s for Himself, the Lord will surely come for us. 3. ' 'To snatch out or away speed– ily." This emphasizes the sudden nature of the rapture. It will be in a moment in the twinkling of an eye (I Corinthians 15:52). In a split second the Lord will call al l believers to Himself to share in His glory not one will remain behind. FEBRUARY, 1969 4... To re cue fr n1 t)hc danger of de t rltct i n .' ' hi meaning of /1apa "70 h uld cau e the "mid" and "po t ' rapturi ts to take tin1e to re-evalua te their heretical po i tio n. I f a per on believe in the in piration of the crlp– tures he mu t believe that the H oly pirit cho e harpazo ito tell u that believer will noit pa through the greaJt tribula– tion. The fourth u e of the word /1ar pazo, ' 'Caught up," confirm the pre--tribu– lational teaching concerning the church g]oriou rapture. A belief in it.he pre-1tribulational r·apture is the oriptural po ition . The "mid" and "post po ition are but eisegetical fabrications of n1en. From what danger are believers rescued at the rapture? The Lords saints will be caught away prior to the great tribulation thus delivered from its danger and destruotion. The great tribulation is ithe time when Gods terrible judgment falls upon wicked men. The church will not go through ~t. Two ver es come to mind: Hin1sclf wi ll come from heaven fo u. The next cripture text i Revc la tion 3: I 0, "Beca11 e thou hast kep the word of my patience, I also wil keep thee from the hour of temptatio1 which hall come upon all the world = to try them that dweLl upon th, eant1h.' T·he rapture is parit of ou Rt alvation and is ,not meri,ted by ou f f aithfulne6 . The promise of Revela tion 3: 10 i to a church made u1 of believers saved by gr,ace, as al believers in all ages are saved· there fore, this promi e is to us. The Lor< h1as promised to keep us from tht hour of trial - the greaJt tr-ibul a,tion Notice the Lord does not keep u part way through it but He keep· us fro,n it that simply means tha the church wi 11 not pass through th, great tribulation. · Whait a wonderful day thait will b{ when the Saviour Himself descend· in the air, not far from !the earth tc snatch aw·ay by force, peedily seiz< for Himself, rescue from danger, th( saints. Will you be ready? The onl) way to get ready is - Believe on the L ord Jesus Chris and thou shalt be saved." Acts 16: 31 A Word From Your Editor ... During the Christmas - New Year H oliday Season, Mrs. Moffat and I were in Florida visiting our son and his family . We had a deligh tful time while there however, the trip down and back was torture! While in Florida, we held several day of meeting with our brother, Ken Hou er, at the Barton Road Baptist Church of Lake Worth. The Lord bles ed. hearts ! Another new pastor has moved in– to our OARBC fellowship. He is Rev. William E . Abernathy, formerly of the First Baptist Church in N ew– field ew Jersey. Brother Abernathy has accepted a call to erve as pa tor of the Immanuel Bapti t Church in Columbus. It has been our privilege to know Brother Abernathy for quite ome time. We are confident the Lord wil u se him in forwarding His :work there at Immanuel Baptist and tht surrounding area. He begins his min· istry in Columbus on February 1st 1969. We would like to thank the man1 who prayed for Mrs. Moffat and £01 tho e who sent cards during the time she wa incapacitated. The crutche~ h ave been laid a ide and slowly bu1 surely she i getting accustomed tc moving about without them. The Lord is good! We will be in meetings a t the In· dependent Baptist Church, Nortr Jackson, Ohio - February 9 througr 16: the Portville Baptist Church Portville, New York - February li through 23 · the First Baptist Ch~ch Gallipolis Ohio - March 2 througr 9. Do remember to pray for u s! THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIS1