Continuing with the pre-Tribulation rapture position....
The Church is a mystery made up of both Jews and Gentiles - Eph. 3:1-7; Rom. 16:25-27; Col. 1:26-29
The mystery program was not revealed until Christ was rejected by Israel. Matt. 12:23-24 - rejection and Matt. 16:18 - prophecy of the coming church.
After his rejection by way of the cross the church had its inception in Acts 2. Dwight Pentecost said, "The church is manifestly an interruption of God's program for Israel, which was not brought into being until Israel's rejection of the offer of the Kingdom. It must logically follow that this mystery program must itself be brought to a conclusion before God can resume His dealing with the nation of Israel."
This is not replacement theology that states the church is the spiritual Israel.
Further, here are some distinctions between the Church and Israel.
A. Biblical revelation - Israel takes up 4/5ths of it and the church 1/5
B. Divine Purpose - Israel has earthly promises in covenants and the church has heavenly promises in the Gospels.
C. Concerning the seed of Abraham - Israel has a physical seed, and the church has a spiritual seed.
D. Birth - Israel has a physical birth that produces relationship, and the church has a spiritual birth that brings relationship
E. Headship - For Israel it is Abraham and for the church it is Christ.
F. Covenants - Israel has the Abrahamic and all the following and the church is indirectly related to the Abrahamic and directly to the New Covenant
G. Nationality - Israel is one nation and the church is from all nations
THere are many, many more distinctions but I wanted to give you a taste for it to prove that they are indeed different.
Let's look at the doctrine of Immenance ("at any moment coming")
Signs were given to Israel and not to the Church. I Thess. 5:6; Titus 2:13; Rev. 3:3. Our sign was to look for the Lord Jesus Christ.
The work of the "Restrainer" as read in II Thess. 2 is important to understand.
II Thess. 2:6-8 - "And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed..."
"..the indication here is that as long as the Holy Spirit is resident within the church, which is His temple, this restraining work will continue and the man of sin cannot be revealed. It is only when the church, the temple, is removed that this restraining ministry ceases and lawlessness can produce the lawless one. It should be noted that the Holy Spirit does not cease His ministries with the removal of the church, nor does He cease to be omnipresent, with her removal, but the restraining ministry does cease.
Thus, this ministry of the Restrainer, which will continue as long as His temple is on the earth and which must cease before the lawless one can be revealed, requires the pretibulation rapture of the church, Dan. 9:27 reveals that that lawless one will be manifested at the beginning of the week." - Dwight Pentecost (Things To Come)
There is also a necessity of an interval. Jesus needs to do several things before He comes back to set up His Kingdom.
A. The Judgment Seat of Christ - II Cor. 5:9; I Cor. 3:11-16; Rev. 4:4, 19:8,14. The church has to be examined. So when?
B. The presentation of the Church to Christ. Eph. 5:25-27; Jude 24
C. The marriage supper of the Lamb. Rev. 19:7-9; Matt. 25:1-13; 22:1-14; Luke 12:35-41. Jesus is the Bridegroom.
There is also a distinction between the rapture and the second coming of Christ.
1. The rapture entails the removal of the saints while the second coming entails the appearing of the Son.
2. The rapture sees the saints caught up in the air, and the second coming Jesus returns to earth.
3. The rapture, Christ comes to claim his bride, but the second coming He returns with his bride.
4. The rapture results in the removal of the church and the inception of the Tribulation, and the second coming results in the establishment of the millenial kingdom.
There are several more distinctions that I don't want to type, due to my hands, getting tired, but again, to prove the diffence between the two events and show they are seperate.
The Church is a mystery made up of both Jews and Gentiles - Eph. 3:1-7; Rom. 16:25-27; Col. 1:26-29
The mystery program was not revealed until Christ was rejected by Israel. Matt. 12:23-24 - rejection and Matt. 16:18 - prophecy of the coming church.
After his rejection by way of the cross the church had its inception in Acts 2. Dwight Pentecost said, "The church is manifestly an interruption of God's program for Israel, which was not brought into being until Israel's rejection of the offer of the Kingdom. It must logically follow that this mystery program must itself be brought to a conclusion before God can resume His dealing with the nation of Israel."
This is not replacement theology that states the church is the spiritual Israel.
Further, here are some distinctions between the Church and Israel.
A. Biblical revelation - Israel takes up 4/5ths of it and the church 1/5
B. Divine Purpose - Israel has earthly promises in covenants and the church has heavenly promises in the Gospels.
C. Concerning the seed of Abraham - Israel has a physical seed, and the church has a spiritual seed.
D. Birth - Israel has a physical birth that produces relationship, and the church has a spiritual birth that brings relationship
E. Headship - For Israel it is Abraham and for the church it is Christ.
F. Covenants - Israel has the Abrahamic and all the following and the church is indirectly related to the Abrahamic and directly to the New Covenant
G. Nationality - Israel is one nation and the church is from all nations
THere are many, many more distinctions but I wanted to give you a taste for it to prove that they are indeed different.
Let's look at the doctrine of Immenance ("at any moment coming")
Signs were given to Israel and not to the Church. I Thess. 5:6; Titus 2:13; Rev. 3:3. Our sign was to look for the Lord Jesus Christ.
The work of the "Restrainer" as read in II Thess. 2 is important to understand.
II Thess. 2:6-8 - "And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed..."
"..the indication here is that as long as the Holy Spirit is resident within the church, which is His temple, this restraining work will continue and the man of sin cannot be revealed. It is only when the church, the temple, is removed that this restraining ministry ceases and lawlessness can produce the lawless one. It should be noted that the Holy Spirit does not cease His ministries with the removal of the church, nor does He cease to be omnipresent, with her removal, but the restraining ministry does cease.
Thus, this ministry of the Restrainer, which will continue as long as His temple is on the earth and which must cease before the lawless one can be revealed, requires the pretibulation rapture of the church, Dan. 9:27 reveals that that lawless one will be manifested at the beginning of the week." - Dwight Pentecost (Things To Come)
There is also a necessity of an interval. Jesus needs to do several things before He comes back to set up His Kingdom.
A. The Judgment Seat of Christ - II Cor. 5:9; I Cor. 3:11-16; Rev. 4:4, 19:8,14. The church has to be examined. So when?
B. The presentation of the Church to Christ. Eph. 5:25-27; Jude 24
C. The marriage supper of the Lamb. Rev. 19:7-9; Matt. 25:1-13; 22:1-14; Luke 12:35-41. Jesus is the Bridegroom.
There is also a distinction between the rapture and the second coming of Christ.
1. The rapture entails the removal of the saints while the second coming entails the appearing of the Son.
2. The rapture sees the saints caught up in the air, and the second coming Jesus returns to earth.
3. The rapture, Christ comes to claim his bride, but the second coming He returns with his bride.
4. The rapture results in the removal of the church and the inception of the Tribulation, and the second coming results in the establishment of the millenial kingdom.
There are several more distinctions that I don't want to type, due to my hands, getting tired, but again, to prove the diffence between the two events and show they are seperate.
Comments
1. You would have to ignore 2 Thess. 2 because it states that the anti-christ CANNOT be revealed until the restrainer is removed. Most scholars agree that the "Restrainer" is the Holy Spirit and we as the church are His temple where he resides. Therefore, in order for Him to be removed the church must be gone. A post trib-rapture obviously does not agree but contradict that text since the anti-christ will be made known at least 7 years prior to the second resurrection.
2. It is obviously the mission of the church to preach the Gospel to all nations and make disciples. If the church is still on earth during the tribulation there would not be a necessity for the two witnesses (Rev. 11:3) nor the 144,000 Jews sealed by God to preach the Gospel. (Rev. 7:14)
3. Another obvious fact is that the church is no longer mentioned past chapter 3 of Revelation and from there on Christians are refered to as "Saints". I would wonder why John would switch the name for the church, which he used so often, to "saints" unless there was a switch in functionality.
4. The church is not subject to the wrath of God which is mainly what will be happening during the 7 year tribulation. (I Thess. 5:9; Romans 8:1) The beast is given dominion over everyone on the earth except the 144,000 Jews. That sounds too much like judgment and wrath.
The post-trib view just does not make sense. Why would God rapture the church and the dead in Christ at the end just to bring them right back down 2 minutes later? Doesn't make sense.
Congratulations! You are now fulfilling the Bible which says "Come now, and let us repeat together."
Be sure to repeat what Walvoord, Lindsey, LaHaye, Ice etc. repeat what their own teachers repeat what their own teachers repeat etc. etc. etc.!
Repeat that Christ's return is imminent because we're told to "watch" (Matt. 24, 25) for it. So is the "day of God" (II Pet. 3:12) - which you admit is at least 1000 years ahead - also imminent because we're told to be "looking for" it?
Also repeat the pretrib myths about the "Jewish wedding stages" and "Jewish feasts" (where's your "church/Israel dichotomy" now?) even though Christ and Paul knew nothing about a "pretrib stage" and neither did any official theological creed or organized church before 1830!
You should read "Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty" on the "Powered by Christ Ministries" site to find out why you shouldn't repeat everything your pretrib teachers repeat.
Do I have to repeat this?