The Coming Final Judgment
Presbyterians Don't Believe in the Rapture and Other Eschatology Questions
Good Morning!
Chapter 33, which is titled, Of the Last Judgment is the last chapter in the Westminster Confession of Faith. Since this is the end of our walk through the WCF (which we began back in October of 2020) we will turn to something new next Thursday, September 2nd. Exactly what is not yet decided. We may turn to the catechisms, or do a series on church history. I’d be glad to hear any ideas you may have.
I hope this past year of going through the WCF was helpful in getting a better grip on what we believe as Presbyterians and why we believe it. If there is a part of the Confession you’d like to hear more about just let me know.
All the talk about faith, new life in Christ, and the peril of not coming to salvation has its fulfilment at the moment time ends and the future eternity begins. There should be some trepidation whenever the subject of the End Times is brought forward. It is a serious matter that needs to be handled with care. That is why today we are going to deal with a couple things which are popular in the evangelical world, but don’t really gel with either the confessional standards of the ARP or, more importantly, the Bible.
It is vital that when we teach and talk about the End Times that we do so with an eye towards our true hope and peace. Even though we might disagree on the issue being wrong on eschatology isn’t going to keep someone from enjoying the blessings of it.
So what exactly does the Confession and the Scriptures be learnin’ us about?
First of all, as Presbyterians we do not believe the Bible to teach that there will be an event in the future that is popularly called “the Rapture”. For those who may not be aware of what this means it is the idea that at the beginning of the End Times there will be an instant where those men and women who have trusted in Christ will be taken suddenly, and secretly, to Heaven, and all others left behind. It needs said that this is a fairly recent teaching in church history. No one taught this before the early 19th Century. It is alien to the Confession of Faith, and in my own personal studies I can find no place where the Scriptures show that there will be multiple stages to Christ’s Second Coming as it is prophesied in Mark 13, Matthew 24, etc…
The Rapture is usually understood to happen right before a Seven-Year Tribulation period during which there is great war and wickedness (those remaining are given an opportunity to repent), and after this is completed then the Second Coming, Christ descending in the flesh, itself takes place. In this doctrine afterwards there will be established a thousand year Millennial Reign (we’ll talk about the Millennium later) and then after all this the final judgment will take place.
We believe the Bible to teach that the Second Coming will be a one-time event. The world will end when Christ comes in power and glory. There will be no secret Rapture. It will be public and certain. All men will be then gathered together before the white throne of judgment of Matthew 25 when Christ returns as spoken of in Acts 1:9-11 and Matthew 24:27. The Confession in Section 2 of Ch. 33 lays it out clearly for us:
The end of God’s appointing this day is for the manifestation of the glory of His mercy, in the eternal salvation of the elect; and of His justice, in the damnation of the reprobate, who are wicked and disobedient. For then shall the righteous go into everlasting life, and receive that fulness of joy and refreshing, which shall come from the presence of the Lord; but the wicked who know not God, and obey not the Gospel of Jesus Christ, shall be cast into eternal torments, and be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power.
The passage which most usually point to in regards to the Rapture is 1 Thessalonians 4:17 which says, “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” However, we need to read this in the context of verse 16, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.” We see clearly that the appearance of Jesus is loud, and known by all on Earth. This coming cannot be something people are confused about. The trumpet featured is not a type of dog whistle that only believers can hear. Think of a passage like Philippians 2:10 and the bowing of the knee. There is an example of what it will look like when the Second Person of the Holy Trinity returns in body with His retinue of angels. The earth will give up the dead in the grave and those who died in Christ will put on their glorified bodies and be made ready to meet Him. All those alive in faith at this time will also be glorified in the same way.
There are a couple other problems with the idea of a “Rapture”. If you take another look at the passage if the Lord is descending from Heaven why would the living believers go up while He is coming down? They would then miss Christ as they go up and He comes down, as if passing on some cosmic escalators. Also, it is important to see the picture for what it is showing. Clouds in the Bible are an image of the presence of God Almighty and that is how Paul is using them here. So when we go to meet Him in the clouds in the air as popularly conceived then that would mean we’d be in the air forever. That can’t possibly be the case. Christ’s presence on the Earth is where we go when He returns. It is worth remembering that eternity will not be spent in a far away place, but here on the redeemed Earth.
Another part of this that is important to remember is that Christ is not going to establish an earthly kingdom that He is going to reign over in the future. He already is reigning at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. He also does not need an earthly Temple. The Book of Hebrews puts an end to the idea that a future “Tribulation Temple” will be built. There is no Biblical reason to reinstate the sacrifices of the old covenant. That is precisely what the Jews are looking for, and we ain’t Jews.
The idea of the Rapture likewise shows a Christ who is powerless to act until He is given the go-ahead to become King at His return. Passages like Psalm 2, Psalm 110, and Daniel 7 tell us that Jesus took on this responsibility when He ascended to Heaven in Acts 1. Another thing to keep in mind is that when Christ returns He will judge all men at that very time. Believers will not go up to Heaven, wait the Thousand Years, and then return to Earth for that Day. All will happen when, “You will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”, as is said by Christ Jesus Himself in Mark 14.
The Rapture is not a secret event only for believers, and it is not the prelude to something else, but the literal end of days where all men will be judged, and the righteous according to the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ will be honored, and the unrighteous condemned in their sin. Passages which talk of two in a field, etc… and one taken and the like speak not of the Rapture either, but are testimonies to the suddenness of the end of life. Another things to remember is that as Christians we are not to be reading the tea leaves of American history for signs of the End Times.
The Christian Church has been living in the End Times since the Ascension of Jesus Christ.
Secondly, related to this we do not believe the Bible to teach that there will be a period between the time of Christ’s appearing where He then reigns on Earth for a thousand years before the Judgment comes as mentioned above. This “Pre-Millennial” concept (that Jesus comes before the Millennium spoken of in Revelation 20), while having more historical precedence than the concept of the pre-tribulation or mid-tribulation Rapture, is also not taught in our Confession. In fact the one Presbyterian denomination which does allow for belief in Pre-Millennialism, the Bible Presbyterian Church, actually made changes to the Westminster Confession of Faith in order to allow this teaching. We understand the Millennial Thousand Years to either be a period in the future that is ended when Christ returns (hence Post-Millennial) or that it is a symbolic representation (like the thousand hills of cattle in Psalm 50:10 are not literally a thousand hills of cattle, but a testimony that God owns them all), which began sometime in the First Century, which is known as Amillennialism. Though there are some Post-Mills who also believe in a symbolic Millennium.
Thirdly, the Antichrist and the Mark of the Beast are not future, but present. While there is some disagreement currently about the person of the Antichrist, historically the Confession and the Presbyterian Church (along with John Wesley and pretty much every Protestant prior to the end of the 19th century) have taught that the Antichrist is none other than the men who occupy the so-called seat of Saint Peter in Rome, or more colloquially known as the Pope. The Mark of the Beast is not a physical marking, nanotechnology, a computer chip, or any man-made thing. It is a sign of separation from the true gospel. In some ways it is the manifestation of the warning of Jesus not to deny the Holy Spirit, otherwise termed the unpardonable sin. There is no governmental agency that has the power to give you the Mark of the Beast, as the Beast/Antichrist is not a primarily political or secular figure, but a religious one. Daniel 7, 2 Thessalonians 2, and other passages of the Bible show us that Antichrist will rise out of the Church. This is why the Mark must have a spiritual dimension, and not a physical one.
While I only usually provide one link to read, because of the nature of the discussion, here are four links for more information on: why we don’t believe in the Rapture as popularly understood by dispensationalism and most evangelical teachers, our basic understanding of the Millennium (I happen to be a Post-Millennialist, but don’t want to clog this up with more than is necessary), and something on the Mark of the Beast, and Antichrist.
Rapture
https://rts.edu/resources/wisdom-wednesday-in-class-with-dr-guy-waters/
Millennium
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/views-of-the-millennium/
Mark of the Beast
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/perplexing-passages-what-is-the-mark-of-the-beast/
Antichrist
https://www.reformation21.org/blog/is-the-pope-the-antichrist
Blessings on your day.
In the Hope and Assurance of the Second Coming,
Rev. Benjamin Glaser
Pastor, Bethany ARP Church