Lee W. Brainard

THE RAPTURE CANNOT BE STUDIED IN ISOLATION. The question of the rapture involves far more than a single passage or a debate over timing. It requires us to consider the entire prophetic testimony of Scripture: God's promises concerning Israel, the tribulation, the Antichrist, the coming of Christ, Armageddon, and the catching away of the church. These subjects must be studied together, allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture rather than forcing individual passages into a preconceived system. Why does this matter? Our understanding of one prophetic subject affects how we interpret others. When passages are taken out of their proper context or made to conform to a predetermined position, we distort the very truths God has revealed. Our goal must be to understand God's prophetic plan as He has revealed it in His Word, rightly dividing Scripture and allowing the whole counsel of God to shape our conclusions.

Alot of post Trib believers claim the gathering and the dotl happen at the same time. Lee gets that question often. - Kristen

The post does NOT say that they are not connected. - Kristen

QUESTION If the Day of the Lord and the Rapture are two different things, why does Paul speak as if they are the same thing? ANSWER Where does Paul speak as if the rapture and the day of the Lord are identical? I can't think of a single passage that states, necessitates, or implies this. The rapture is the morning star of the day of the Lord. The tribulation is the dawning of the day of the Lord (1 Thess. 5, 2 Thess. 2). The second coming is the sunrise of the day of the Lord (Mal. 4:1-3). The second coming is the arrival of the great and terrible day of the Lord. The thousand years is the day of the Lord here on earth, the promised Sabbath rest of God. The rapture and the second coming are distinct aspects of the day of the Lord. Every aspect of the day of the Lord is part of the day of the Lord, but not the sum of the day of the Lord.

CHALLENGE REGARDING THE TEN VIRGINS That’s incorrect. All 10 are believers. Jesus said “they went out to meet the bridegroom”. Non-believers are not interested in going out to meet Jesus as their bridegroom. RESPONSE Your observation is incorrect. The parable of the virgins is one of many passages in the Bible that give us practical observations on what we currently see unfold and what we will see unfold here on earth as far as the difference between professing Christians and possessing Christians is concerned. These passages are not designed to be suspended by a technical thread hung from a technical definition of a word like servant, bridegroom, virgin, friend, etc. They are practical, not technical. They inform us that many going through the outward forms of Christianity (professing to believe on Jesus, professing to knowing God, professing to be headed for heaven and the wedding supper), are actually not born again. They are not saved. If you recall, the Lord Jesus informs us that on the day of the wedding supper, folks will show up without wedding garments, thinking they should be allowed into the wedding banquet. The Lord addresses them as "friend" and then excludes them.

Every snowflake is different. ❄️ Think about that for a moment. The same God who created the vast universe also designed these tiny, intricate wonders, each with its own unique pattern. We are only scratching the surface of His incredible creativity. “O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all.” Psalm 104:24

Amen!

IRON SHARPENS IRON You cannot have a figurative truth unless there is a literal truth. Iron was actually used to sharpen iron. The literal truth gives us the foundation for understanding the figurative application. Just as iron sharpens iron, good conversations with solid brothers and sisters in Christ sharpen us in our understanding of Scripture. Through sound discussion, we grow in our ability to rightly divide the Word of truth and become workmen who need not be ashamed. Surround yourself with believers who will challenge you with the truth of God's Word, encourage sound doctrine, and help you grow in spiritual discernment.

Yep. Scary times coming.

This is viewing things from the perspective of what we see, not from the perspective of omniscience. We see people receive the word, then walk away. We see this all the time. Nobody walks away if they were born again. Believers can backslide. They cannot walk away and bear zero evidence of regeneration. Regeneration is a powerful, life changing work, not a rubber stamp.

Thanks bro!

So they do bear fruit, you just don't see it. - Kristen

Revelations and Tongues---My Experience nitter.gq/i/broadcasts/1oJMvNPdE…

Two corollaries to sola scriptura are sola facta and omnia facta. Two corollaries to "the Bible only" are "only facts" and "all the facts." -Lee Brainard

Live tonight at 8:30pm cst youtube.com/live/4ew7n20Xvtc…

QUESTION I know salvation is through faith alone. Titus 3:5-6 tells us that it is "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy". This seems pretty straight forward. But then I read Matthew 24:45-51 and I come to a completely different conclusion. The unfaithful servant did belong to the master, recognized who the master was, but used his time foolishly to chase his own gain. So when the master returns, he rewards him by basically throwing him in hell. The only way I can reconcile this is that faith must be kept and be in continual practice. I don't want to believe this, but can the servant belong to the master, yet still be thrown in hell? ANSWER The only way passages like this can be reconciled to salvation by faith alone is to understand that some passages address the separation of the true and false from the perspective of heaven and some from our perspective here on earth. For instance, in the parable of the ten virgins, five have oil and go in to the wedding, while five are without oil and are excluded. Because they are called virgins, some insist that all must be saved. But the passage is not addressing the matter from God's omniscience but from our finite perspective here on earth. We see professing virgins. About 50% are genuine and 50% are merely religious but not regenerated by the indwelling Holy Spirit. This does not mean that 50% of every church is likely unsaved. Some churches have very high percentages of real Christians. Some have very low percentages of real Christians. Across the spectrum of professing Christians, only half are real. We see a similar thing in Matt. 7:21-23 where apparent Christians are engaged in serving the Lord, but they wind up in Hell because of their iniquity. Iniquity includes both their wicked sins and their religious iniquity which they should have seen through. We see many who say "Lord, Lord" and many of them are actually not born again. This is what we see in the passage you asked about, Matt. 24:45-51. Here we see servants. Some say that this implies that all classes are saved. This forces them to one of two conclusions. Either some born again Christians lose their salvation (which runs contrary to eternal security), or some born-again Christians spend eternity saved but in outer darkness. Not in hell, but not in the full blessings of heaven either. This seems like an evangelical version of purgatory, except that you don't get out. I think both are mistakes. The truth is, servants is used here from the perspective of the man on earth not from the omniscience of God. We see professing servants of God. Some will prove to be real and be immensely blessed. Some will prove to be false and fall under judgment. They are evil. They are not born again. Everything comes down to the new birth. Believers are all over the map in their fruitfulness, but there is no such thing as believers that don't bear fruit.

Political Involvement Our commission in this present age is not to fix the world through political activism, but to call men out of the world through the gospel so they will not be judged with the world. The world will not be cleaned up until the Lord descends from heaven and binds the devil. We must never forget the big picture presented to us in the Bible. By all means, be a voice for the truth of the living God. Defend the defenseless. Speak up for the voiceless. Articulate the mind of God. But never lose sight of the bigger picture. Political involvement may influence certain issues, but lasting change begins in the hearts of men. Our priority must remain bringing people to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, one person at a time. Jesus is your pattern, not modern, hip Christianity.

Yes, it is. Explained in the video. - Kristen