Friday, April 29, 2022
Jesus said “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!…When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in the heart…[and] He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man” (Matt. 13:9, 19, 37). In addition to “the good seed” being the Words of the Lord Jesus Christ, He also said of Himself “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).
In the love of Christ Jesus I ask you: “With what regard do you hold “the good seed” of the Son of Man”? Do you accept His good seed as the way, the truth and the life, or do you look to other sources for truth, specifically, end-time truths? Here’s why I ask: since the mid-19th Century the organized church has been utterly deceived by the epiphany of John Nelson Darby (1800–1882); he died April 29, 1882, exactly 140 years ago today, so his rejection of Jesus’ end-time teaching hasn’t been around very long, yet the organized church holds to Darby’s Dispensational heresy over the end-time teachings of the Son of Man. Why? Because certain men and women do not love or accept “the good seed” of the end-times sown by Christ Jesus. Many succumbed to the Serpent’s hiss, deceptively saying “Has God indeed said…?” (Gen. 3:1). They not only doubt, but disbelieve the Son of God, and the Spirit further said, “he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind” (James 1:6). Darby and his Dispensational followers have sown tares of rebellion, discord and unbelief among “the good seed” sown by the Son of Man.
Darby’s pre-trib rapture followers, in order to make their heresy palatable, have added to and taken away from “the good seed” sown by the Son of Man. The most pressing question is, who will you believe? There’s not a verse or passage of contextual Scriptures wherein Christ gathers His elect before the tribulation. In fact, “the good seed” sown by Christ teaches just the opposite, saying He gathers His elect “Immediately after the tribulation” Matt. 24:29–31), which demands preparation, like the wise virgins of Matt. 25:1–13. But in efforts to obscure and discount Christ, pre-trib rapture believers say that when Christ taught the Olivet Discourse, He was not speaking to the would-be church but only to Jews. Yet, the Spirit is clear that “he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, [meaning of genealogical lineage] nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God” (Rom. 2:28–29), clearly meaning that born-again believers are true Jews, not unbelieving Jews whom God gave a certificate of divorce because of their repeated rebellion, unbelief, idolatry and spiritual harlotry, see Jer. 3:8.
The pre-trib rapture heresy teaches believers that they will never see Antichrist, and if they do see him then they’ve missed the rapture! That, dear reader, is a spiritual crime against believers, not to mention it’s devious departure from the truth of “the good seed” sown by the Son of Man. Jesus warned when “you see the abomination of desolation, [Antichrist] spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (Matt. 24:15), meaning the third rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, which occurs at mid-trib, it’s time to flee to God’s safety and provision for the last 1,260 days.
Jesus also taught the resurrection of the dead—only one resurrection of the just and the unjust; “for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:28–29), occurring “at the last day” (John 6:40, 44, 54). There are two end-time resurrections of the dead and they both occur within the same hour as Jesus taught. But Dispensational believers have been deceived to believe that there must surely be multiple end-time resurrections and raptures in order to create their desires. But the pre-trib rapture is altogether built on rebellion, assumptions, conjectures, and the traditions of men.
Regarding the times of the end of this age, rather than accepting by faith “the good seed” sown by the Son of Man, Darby and his followers have sown their own corrupt tares among “the good seed”, and will be entirely unprepared for the long dark night of the tribulation, no different than the five foolish virgins of Matt. 25:1–13. Dispensationalists are in for a horrible rude awakening, because they will indeed “see the abomination of desolation” just as Jesus taught at Matt. 24:15. But because they are so steeped in their tradition, “making the word of God of no effect” (Mark 7:13), they will likely not recognize Antichrist when he really does appear, but will vehemently deny that it’s truly “the man of sin…the son of perdition” (2 Thess. 2:3). They’re self-deceived.
We’re faced with the imminent start to the seven-year tribulation, and only those prepared in the teachings of Jesus will in knowledge of the truth be able to endure to its end as He taught saying “he who endures to the end shall be saved” (Matt. 24:13). Please consider, Dispensationalists use the Scripture that God “did not appoint us to wrath” (1 Thess. 5:9) as evidence that believers will be excluded from the tribulation—but God did not appoint us to wrath any more than civil courts appointed us to a motor vehicle crash! But if one ignores established laws, and crashes, he or she will pay the penalty, and ignorance of the law will never be an excuse. The exact same is true of believers who ignore the end-time teachings of the Son of Man. Those who believe and prepare in the end-time truths of Christ will “be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36). And that escape is NOT the rapture, but is similar to Lot’s escape with his wife and daughters, though his wife didn’t believe, looked back and died, becoming a pillar of salt! The mid-trib escape of true believers who are “counted worthy” will be similar, because they are “the freewoman” (Gal. 4:21–31); “the woman [who] fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days” (Rev. 12:6, 14), the second half of the tribulation.
In this regard, I strongly urge you to read and study Luke 17:26–37. Therein you will see three times the phrase “one will be taken and the other will be left”. The one “taken” is not taken in the rapture as Dispensationalists would have us believe, but rather, under his or her own power flees in haste, similar to Lot and his wife and daughters fleeing at the appointed time. The ones “left” behind are they who were not “counted worthy” nor had prepared to flee at the appointed time. The latter examples those who didn’t prepare in the testimony of Christ, but rather believed they had nothing to prepare for. How do we know this? The Lord Jesus Christ will never violate His own Word of truth, for “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar” (Prov. 30:5–6).
In this regard God issues a strong warning to those who would dare add to, diminish, silence, or change the prophetic Word of the Son of Man, and believers better pay attention to it. God said “if anyone adds to these things, [meaning the testimony of Jesus which is the spirit of prophecy, Rev. 19:10] God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” (Rev. 22:18–19).
I’m praying for everyone that reads thefridayletter.com, that God, by His Spirit would give you the urgency to study the end-time truths and testimony of the Son of Man, and prepare to endure to the end as Christ taught. You will never be disappointed at the discovery of the truth, and you will see the absolute and urgent necessity to divorce yourself from the pre-trib rapture traditions of men that literally make “the word of God of no effect” (Mark 7:13). It’s urgent that you heed the end-time teachings of the Son of Man and separate yourself from the ear-tickling and false hope of a pre-trib rapture. Jesus Christ will gather His elect, not before, but “Immediately after the tribulation” (Matt. 24:29–31) exactly as He taught. The question is, “Are you His elect?”
Marlin J. Yoder
