They are questions that we all have had. Why did God permit so many denominations to rise up? That's an easy one actually....for all one would have to do is look at Rome....and how when a church becomes all-powerful then potential for tyranny and outright heretical teaching is there....but we can also look in our own protestant denominations....for as difficult as the divisions can be....and the error that can be called truth.....Charles Finney's revivalism where man can orchestrate revival for example....it becomes somewhat obvious that we tend to keep each other at least a little bit in check.
Why would God permit the two different beliefs in baptism.....where literally great Christian leaders like Charles Spurgeon and J. C. Ryle would differ? The Lord's Supper would be another example.....as would the Lord's Day?
It is as if God is saying.....'these are your brothers....work it out....love each other'.....which Christians for the most part have done over the centuries....but the alternative to that is when we compromise....something like the liberal church of today arises.
Well....I bring this up to lead into this....why did God permit the....Pre-Trib Rapture....to take hold in America....for it is not a correct interpretation on what will happen in the last of the last days....but....even this division becomes a little bit more understandable....when placed on a larger grid.
The general belief in the Pre-Trib teaching is that the church will be raptured out before the tribulation begins. This belief has resulted in a church today that outwardly proclaims the Second Coming....but inwardly doesn't think a lot about the implications other than....'we will be gone when the bad stuff happens.' Thus we can fill our Lord's Days in football stadiums....(just one example)....because if the imminent Rapture occurs.....we will be zapped right out of Section 25....row H...seats 34 and 35! There was even a popular Christian t-shirt way back when....with a drawing of a pair of empty tennis shoes in front of a seat in the stands....with legs on their way up....up....and away.
Even here though.....God seems to have had a purpose....for if one were to take the time and actually think about what we know will happen during the Tribulation....and applies immanence along with it....and includes all of us....it would be more than a daunting feeling....and could even be debilitating.....that is how terrible the descriptions are. It's one thing to say that vaccine mandates might be a precursor to the mark of the beast....and then just work extra hard for a Republican Congress....and another to think about this world heading full-steam into cryptographic tyranny....and at the same time say.....Maranatha....Come Lord Jesus.
We should already know....and be greatly thankful that God is well aware of our weaknesses. I for one know that....and Praise Him in that He is so merciful and longsuffering towards us! And it sobers me....knowing what is ahead....and that it is not far off.
The mitigating factor here in this question of the Lord's return is that much prophesy is being unveiled right now before our eyes....for it was God's plan to have Christians always looking to the Second Coming....for it gives us great hope....even though it would take many centuries before God would begin to move continental plates....as it were....in what is happening in the world today. We are coming together....slowly....and at the same time a winnowing is happening and will continue....and the Pre-Trib teaching will fade....of necessity....and when God's perfect timing wills it as such.
Addendum: In yesterday's post I recommended the daily audio from R. C. Sproul's radio program....renewingyourmind.org....and today's program is very relevant to both America and this post on division within the church. The title is Obeying God Or Man. Recently a division in the church arose as certain state governors demanded that churches not gather during a particularly intense time of contagious infectious disease. Some said that this was tantamount to the government telling them not to preach Christ....and therefore they would obey God and not man....others.....myself included....said that those preachers could indeed preach Christ all they wanted....but in order to fight this pandemic....and save as many lives as possible....pastors would have to temporarily seek other ways to preach to their congregations. There was a division among us. R. C. Sproul added this to the end of today's program....(this program is taped....for R. C. Sproul went to be with his Lord in December of 2017)...."We bend over backwards to be submissive....but we stand with ramrod defiance when the authorities command disobedience to God....that's why it very important for us to understand....in our daily lives....what it is God commands....and what God forbids." This issue in the states was not as discernible as black and white. Does that surprise anyone....that the enemy purposely causes division? It may be difficult....but we will....work it out....for a day is indeed coming when the division will not be between the redeemed....like this....but between the redeemed and those who are not the redeemed!
