Re: Satan's Witnesses' End-time lies

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Wed, 29 Jul 2026 14:10:19 -0400,
  <[email protected]>
  Satan's Witness <[email protected]> wrote:
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> The Rapture is a misinterpretation of 1 Th 4:17:

You promote almost nothing but deliberately crafted and twisted, 
Bible-contradicting lies:

A Scriptural Refutation of Objections Concerning the Rapture and the 
Hope of Believers

The Physical Transformation and Visibility of the Rapture

It is claimed that because "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom 
of God," the rapture must be an invisible shedding of physical bodies 
rather than a literal gathering of living believers. What do the 
Scriptures teach regarding what happens to living believers at the 
coming of Christ?

A. 1 Corinthians 15:50–53

"I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom 
of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell 
you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a 
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet 
will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be 
changed. For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this 
mortal body must put on immortality." (1 Corinthians 15:50–53 ESV)

Notice what the Bible says happens to living saints. It does not say 
they shed their bodies or become invisible disembodied spirits. It 
states plainly that "we shall all be changed." The mortal body is not 
cast off; rather, "this mortal body must put on immortality."

B. Philippians 3:20–21

"But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the 
Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his 
glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things 
to himself." (Philippians 3:20–21 ESV)

The Lord Jesus Christ does not destroy or discard the believer's body at 
His coming; He transforms it "to be like his glorious body."

C. 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17

"For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, 
with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of 
God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who 
are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the 
Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord." (1 
Thessalonians 4:16–17 ESV)

The catching up of believers is preceded by a audible "cry of command," 
the "voice of an archangel," and the "sound of the trumpet of God." 
Living believers, along with the resurrected dead in Christ, are caught 
up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

First Proposition: The Bible teaches that at the coming of the Lord, 
living believers do not shed their physical bodies into nonexistence, 
but their bodies are instantaneously changed into glorious, immortal 
bodies, and they are bodily caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

The Universal Scope of the Rapture for All Believers

It is claimed that 1 Thessalonians 4:17 applies only to a restricted 
group of 144,000 people who go to heaven. What do the Scriptures teach 
concerning who is included in this hope?

A. 1 Corinthians 15:51–52

"Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all 
be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last 
trumpet." (1 Corinthians 15:51–52 ESV)

Apostle Paul uses the word "all." He does not say a small fraction or a 
elite class of believers will be changed; he declares "we shall all be 
changed."

B. 1 Thessalonians 4:15–17

"For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are 
alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those 
who have fallen asleep... Then we who are alive, who are left, will be 
caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." 
(1 Thessalonians 4:15–17 ESV)

Paul addresses the entire Thessalonian church and all believers who are 
alive at the Lord's return. There is no mention of a limitation to a 
specific 144,000 individuals.

C. John 14:2–3

"In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have 
told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a 
place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where 
I am you may be also." (John 14:2–3 ESV)

Jesus promised His disciples—and through them, all who place their faith 
in Him—that He would return to take them to the Father's house so that 
they may be where He is.

Second Proposition: The promise of being caught up to meet the Lord at 
His coming is not limited to a select group of 144,000, but belongs to 
all living believers in Jesus Christ.

The True Identity of the 144,000 and the Innumerable Heavenly Multitude

It is claimed that only 144,000 people go to heaven, citing Revelation 
7:4 and Revelation 14:1. What does the Book of Revelation actually say 
about those in heaven before God's throne?

A. Revelation 7:4

"And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe 
of the sons of Israel." (Revelation 7:4 ESV)

The text explicitly identifies who the 144,000 are: individuals sealed 
from "every tribe of the sons of Israel."

B. Revelation 7:9–10

"After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could 
number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, 
standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, 
with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, 
'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'" 
(Revelation 7:9–10 ESV)

In addition to the 144,000 from the tribes of Israel, John sees a "great 
multitude that no one could number" standing directly before the throne 
of God in heaven.

C. Revelation 7:13–14

"Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, 'Who are these, clothed in 
white robes, and from where have they come?' I said to him, 'Sir, you 
know.' And he said to me, 'These are the ones coming out of the great 
tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the 
blood of the Lamb.'" (Revelation 7:13–14 ESV)

This uncountable multitude in heaven consists of redeemed people who 
have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. Heaven is not limited 
to 144,000 individuals.

Third Proposition: The 144,000 are a specific, numbered group from the 
tribes of Israel, whereas the redeemed in heaven before the throne of 
God comprise an innumerable multitude from every nation, people, and 
language.

The Harmony of Earthly Promises and Heavenly Destiny

It is argued that because verses like Matthew 5:5, Psalm 37:29, and 
Isaiah 45:18 state that the meek shall inherit the earth and that God 
formed the earth to be inhabited, there can be no rapture of believers 
to heaven. Does God's plan for the earth contradict His promise in 1 
Thessalonians 4:17?

A. 1 Thessalonians 4:17

"Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with 
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be 
with the Lord." (1 Thessalonians 4:17 ESV)

The plain statement of Scripture is that living believers will be caught 
up to meet the Lord in the air. One passage of Scripture cannot be used 
to cancel out another.

B. 2 Peter 3:13

"But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new 
earth in which righteousness dwells." (2 Peter 3:13 ESV)

C. Revelation 21:1–3

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the 
first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy 
city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a 
bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne 
saying, 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell 
with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with 
them as their God.'" (Revelation 21:1–3 ESV)

God's ultimate design includes both catching His saints up to be with 
Him and establishing a renewed creation where righteousness dwells. The 
fact that God created the earth to be inhabited in no way disproves or 
cancels the explicit promise that Christ will come to gather His saints 
in the air.

Fourth Proposition: The promise that God's people will inherit the earth 
in its renewed state does not contradict or deny the literal catching up 
of believers to meet Christ in the air at His return.

Conclusion

When we take the whole counsel of God's Word in its simple, plain 
meaning, we see:

Believers do not shed their bodies invisibly; their bodies are 
transformed into immortal, glorious bodies at Christ's return.

The rapture is the blessed hope for all living believers, not a 
restricted fraction.

The heavenly multitude in Revelation is beyond human calculation, far 
exceeding 144,000.

God's promises concerning the future earth stand in complete harmony 
with the literal catching up of His church to meet Him in the air.


-- 
Good News †

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Every false gospel leads individuals to conscious, eternal torment in 
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The crucifixion of Christ completely satisfied the debt of our sins 
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life (Romans 1:4). As a result, God is proven just when He forgives 
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