PART 2 OF 5

John Nelson Darby

John Darby devised a schematic of human history , that he called "Dispensations" , it was his view, in spite of
1800 years of Ecclesiastical history, that God dealt with humanity in a slightly different way during each Dispensation. Darby ignored the different styles of writings that are found in Scripture to justify his views and Theology.

It is impossible to understand his Theology without understanding John Darby. Darby was a combative, argumentative and disruptive personality that was intolerant of the view points held by others he was more interested in "being right" than what was right.

Darby had been trained as an attorney, readily engaged in combative and provocative actions even during his service as a Deacon in the Church of Ireland , apart of the Anglican Communion .

Darby's own personalty somehow serves as the basic spiritual DNA of the Theology that he created that gives rise to so much contention when and where his Theology is embraced

Darby often resorted to undermining those whom he served under, but demanded complete compliance to those under his authority. He often would attempt to isolate those he sought to influence away from Church authority, in effect he would attempt to create a Church within a Church.

Darby , however, rightly saw that there was a lack of fire and spirituality within the Church of his day. Darby believed that all Christians should be fully participating and engaged within the life of the Church for this Darby should be commended. Darby's admirers saw him as one who wished to instill zeal and passion into the Church, his critics were less generous.

Overtime Darby became disillusioned with the condition of the established Church, he saw that some in the Church were more focused upon programs and Church doctrine and membership and less focused upon Jesus Christ.

Plymouth Brethren

At some point in 1829 while recovering from an injury Darby began to meet with a group of men who assembled for "prayer" in a house in Dublin Ireland; this group became known as the Plymouth Brethren . This group was comprised of like minded individuals who shared some of Darby's passions and viewpoints. At this point in time to meet outside of the established Church would have been considered inappropriate, especially for the shearing of the Sacrament of Communion as the Plymouth Brethren began to do.

Scholarship Discounted

As time passed Darby began to be outspoken and called for change within the Church and renewed zeal and passion, he spoke and wrote pamphlets and a call for the return to Scripture alone as the guide for the Church and Christian life, this admirable desire , however to look only to Scripture blinded Darby to the genuine scholarship which had been done over the centuries, which he began to discount.

This caused Darby to miss the point of large portions of the Scripture, Darby did not understand that the Bible does not always mean what it say's , but rather , say's what it means.

This scholarship which was generations in the making studied into the types of literature which is present in and inspired by the Holy Spirit to speak regarding the purpose of God in the history of salvation and understood thru who Jesus Christ is and all that Jesus accomplished on behalf of humanity.

Darby in effect closed one eye to properly understanding the Bible. He began to look to prophetic events and this became his passion that led him to construct his Dispinstaional Schematic of human history and prophecy.

The Six* (or Seven) Dispensations

Gentiles- Adam to Exodus

Israel- Exodus to Birth of Christ

Hypostatic Union- Birth of Christ to Accession / Pentecost Coming of the Holy Spirit

The Church Age or Grace Age- Pentecost / Coming of the Holy Spirit to the Rapture

Tribulation- Rapture to the Second Coming – God begins to rework with Israel

Millennium- Second Coming to Finial Judgment – Israel Restored

*”the Devine Outline of History, Dispensations and the Church” by Col. R. B. Thieme, Jr.

With a focus on events ,the person of Jesus was inevitably relegated to the role of a "participant" in a series of events rather than being the focus of the message. It became an event(s) message not a person message.

Needed Something

Darby did know,however, that the Church thru the ages did not read the Scripture the way that he now presented it. He often said that he "needed something to make it work" , to provide the dichotomy between the "Church age and the Tribulation age". This was problematic for his views and he knew it.

In 1828 Darby then heard news of the preaching of a Scottish pastor named Edward Irving, a pastor in the Church of Scotland regarding the Rapture. This caught Darby's attention and he is known to have traveled to Great Briton and to have heard Irving preach. The Rapture gave Darby the dichotomy that he needed to make his schematic work. Darby even wrote letters to associates claiming that the Rapture was "his new idea" and used it in his prophecy conferences which he held to popularize his views.

Scofield

While in Europe Cyrus Scolfield heard of the Rapture and he was imminently interested in it. Scolfield embraced it and returned to America bringing the Rapture and Darby's Dispenstaionalism with him.

Cyrus Scofield popularized the Rapture and Dispensational Theology, introducing it into the American Church through his Study Bible and Reference Bible that has circulated widely. He listed seven dispensations: Innocence, Conscience, Human Government, Promise, Law, Grace, and the Kingdom. In each of these time “dispensations” God focuses on various objectives and purposes in His plan of salvation.

Four Views of Prohecy**

There are basically four ways that Prophecy is interpreted within the Church today

Preterist- Most prophecies were fulfilled during the time of the Roman Empire

Historicist- Most prophecies have been fulfilled throughout history and are being fulfilled today- many times

Futurist- Most are yet to be fulfilled in the future

Spiritual- (or Symbolic also called Idealist) – prophecies are a symbolic way to portray the ongoing struggle that we are all dealing with in this world and have been fulfilled many times in history and in the human experience.

**Revelation Four Views, Edited by Steve Gregg

The Dispensational Problem

Dispensational Theology makes the assertion that they arrive at their conclusions based on a literal reading of the Bible, and that this is their rule of understanding scripture, yet, they by their own admission, they suspend this rule in order to read the Letters to the seven churches in Revelation.

Most, but not all, who teach the Rapture, are “Dispensationalist” in their interpretation of prophecy.

Example: They say that all Scripture is to be taken literally- yet, when the Letters to the Seven Churches in Revelation are read the “Dispensationalist Interpretation” is that this part of Scripture represents a sweeping view of the Church and its condition down through the ages, that is from Pentecost 31 AD, until the “Church Age” ends in the future at the Rapture.

Dispensationalist View of The Seven Churches -*****

Ephesus- From Pentecost 31 AD-100 AD

Smyrna- From the Rise of Emperor Nero- 300 AD

Pergamos- 300 AD-800 AD

Thyatira- 800 AD-1517 AD

Last Three Overlap

Sardis- Starting with the Reformation Church to just prior to present day

Philadelphia- the “True” Church of today and up till the Rapture

Laodicea- The Church which turned to Apostasy and those who are “Left Behind” after the Rapture occurs- to face the Tribulation Period

****Things to Come, by Dwight Pentecost, Professor Dallas Theological Seminary, and a leading Dispensationalist Theologians of today.

If Literal

But, if we follow the self professed methodology that the Dispensationalist say they use, then this cannot be true. Then we would need to read Jesus’ comments to those churches as being directed to those churches at that time in Church History. And again IF this is true then the trails and problems and weakness and Blessing would be to those churches at that time in the First Century in Asia Minor alone and not the church throughout the ages.

The reason this is called to question is that found in the Letters to the Seven Churches is a “Pillar” of the Rapture belief. Jesus addresses the Philadelphia church.

Rev: 3:10- “Because you have kept My word of perseverance, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come, to test those who dwell on the earth”

If we take the Literal approach then this “hour” was in the Philadelphia church’s future and is now in our past. - There will be more regarding the Seven Churches Study.

Apocalyptic Writing

The Greek word translated revelation is apokalupsis, from which we get apocalypse. Unfortunately, apocalypse has come to mean chaos and catastrophe, whereas originally it meant unveiling or revealing. It was also a type of literature common from the 2^nd century BC through the 1^st century AD. Jewish apocalypse literature used well-known symbols to unveil God’s purposes in history. The purpose revealed in Revelation is centered on Jesus. This book is a revelation from Jesus and a revelation about Jesus—a message that brings Jesus’ servants the hope and encouragement needed to stand faithful in the midst of terrible persecution. The focus of Revelation is the Lord Jesus and the great victory which he shares with us.

Jesus is unveiled at the beginning of the book as the great Prophet bearing a vital message about victory from God. Then in chapters 1-3 he is unveiled as the Priest who ministers to God’s people. Then in Revelation 4–5, he is the glorified Lamb of God. In Revelation 6–18, he is Judge of all; and in Revelation 19, he is the returning, victorious King. The book closes with Jesus as the heavenly Bridegroom, ushering the church, his bride, into the fullness of the glory he shares with her. Through these revealing pictures of Jesus we come to see him as he truly is, and that vision leads us to deeper faith and deeper worship of the one, supreme Lord and Savior.

The Church at Philadelphia

The City of Philadelphia in Asia Minor, was a small city at the time John wrote, mostly due to the fact that the area was plagued by repeated earthquakes forcing many live outside the city. In 17 AD the city was destroyed and had to be rebuilt. The church there historically has always been a small one, yet it was very much alive spiritually, and was an influential church until the 12^th century, even in spite of fierce persecution by the Jews as they attempted to keep Gentiles from receiving Christ and moved to shut down the church’s work in the area.

Rev: 3:8-9- “I have set before you an open door that none can shut, I will make those of the Synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews and are not, but are lying, I will make them come and bow down at you feet, and they will know that I have loved you,.”

Hour and the Whole World

“Hour of Testing?” Dispensationalist, again by suspending their own methodology, see this as something that is yet to come, and through the Rapture Doctrine, they see this as meaning that God will remove Christians from off the face of the earth, and in this way will keep Christians from this “Hour”, or as it is assigned to be called the Great Tribulation, that is a global crisis that is extended primarily against the Jews.

Yet reading the verse at face value does not say that Christ will remove the church. There are many ways through which Christ could do this even if the referred time is at the close of history. Jesus Himself prayed, “I do not pray that You should take them out of the World, but that You should keep them from the evil one” John: 17:15.

The Greek word, prayed by Jesus in John: 17:15, translated “Keep them From” is the same Greek word that John wrote in Rev: 3:10, “keep them from”. The word is “ek tereo”. It does not mean to remove; rather it is better understood as hold in safety. It is conditional not locational in implication; it is best understood as if in the middle of a raging storm a protective canopy is placed about you where you are located, and when the storm is spent you have miraculously survived, when it would appear that you should not have. That is more the concept of the word “ek tereo.” Ps:91 serves to endorse this concept.

Some argue that this is a reference to God’s continual provision for the church throughout the age’s regardless of when the “hour of testing” arrives; some see this as an Empire wide event. The term “the Whole World” was a common expression for the Roman Empire itself. After all the Empire and its citizens saw themselves as the “Whole World”. This term is used in Luke2:1 where a decree is issued for the “Whole World”, that is everything within the Roman Empire’s rule. The term the Whole World was used in the attitude of the Roman world, meaning that all that is important is Roman and all outside this “world” was outside. It is used in the same way and in the same attitude as the Jews had when speaking about Jerusalem as being “the heart of the Earth.” Jewish coins excavated around Jerusalem and Palatine have on them the image of the city of Jerusalem and the words The Heart of the Earth, meaning that this place was of great importance. This is the meaning behind Jesus’ words in Matt: 12:40- That the Messiah would be “Three days and Three Nights in the “Heart of the Earth”. The Pharisees knew what He meant, this was their World View.

This “Hour of Testing” is also to “test those who dwell on the earth” or Greek “ghay” for Land. In Scripture the term “the land” is often equated with the Land of Israel and there is ample evidence in history that John may have been encouraging the church that, as a whole, it would survive the onslaught of persecutions which the Empire would unleash against Christians; as well as those targeting the Jews in Israel; as well as civil war and assaults on the Empire from its enemies, which caused great upheaval throughout the Roman Empire for the next few centuries.

These things did happen and the Church did survive these things. Does this mean that in the years to come God can’t remove Christians from the World? No. It is possible that the Rapture could occur, however God’s method of “ek tereo,” that is “hold in safety”, may be vastly different than anyone conceives. God will see to His people in whatever the hour of testing will be. The Church at Philadelphia did survive Civil War, persecution, and natural disasters in late 90s AD and into the First Century.

Some have asked, “Isn’t the Rapture in the Book of Revelation?” To some, this is the reference back to Christ’s blessing given to the Church at Philadelphia. To others it is a view that the Rapture is being alluded to in the person of the Apostle John in the fourth chapter of Revelation, Rev: 4:1 “come up here.” Meaning that, in John, the church as a whole has been symbolically ruptured into Heaven. Others dispute this, pointing again to the Seven Churches of the letters as being historical, and that the first part of Rev: 4:1 prove theses churches historical location.

They find evidence in John’s words “after this” that is, after the seven churches have past historically, which would locate them in the First Century. Some believe that the Rapture is in Revelation and the images of the multitude in Heaven standing on the Sea of Glass, yet Rev: 5:11 identifies this group as angels and not redeemed humanity.

144000

Some bring to bear the 144000, seeing in this group those who have been removed from the earth before the Tribulation begins. Yet we see this sealing of the 144000, which occurs after the six seals are broken, which accordingly happens after the Rapture; and then the Great multitude in Revelation Chapter seven stand before the Throne. Yet when the Chapter is read, tells us that theses 144400 are Rev: 7:5- “from every tribe of Israel.” This happens simultaneously with the impending “wrath of the Lamb.” Or if we take the literal approach it happens in Rev: 7:1, “After this” after the “wrath” which would conclude with the second coming of Christ.

In verse 9 John sees a Great Multitude. They are identified as being from every nation. Verse 13 tells us they have come out of the Tribulation so this happens after, which is when Matt: 24:27-31 tells us that Jesus “gathers His elect from the four winds.” At this time “all the peoples of the earth will mourn; and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of Heaven.” The word used here for coming is the same in Verses 3, 27, 37 & 39: Parousia, Parousia. Jesus uses this word to describe His very public return; His Coming after the Tribulation.

Silence before 1827(?)

Prior to 1827, we find no overt mention of the Rapture anywhere at any time. With the exception which we have noted prior, there is silence in regard to this teaching. But does that mean that it is not in the Scripture, hidden in plain view? It is possible for a Biblical teaching to be there, yet not understood by Christians until a time of God’s choosing, maybe at the very end of this World. After all God’s Revelation is progressive: “But you Daniel, close up the Book and seal the words until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge” Dan: 12:4. “I have much more to say to you than you can bear. But when, He, the Spirit of Truth comes He will guide you into all truth.” John: 16:12-13

As we move into the past, especially getting closer to the first century and the Apostolic church, which was taught by the Apostles or their immediate disciples. We should think that there would be overt evidence or the espousing of the Rapture by ministers of God.

But what we find from men like John Wycliffe, John Huss, Martin Luther, William Tyndale, Hugh Latimer, John Foxe, John Calvin, John Knox, John and Charles Wesley is that none of these men believed nor taught the Rapture. On the contrary they all believed that the Church would be on the Earth and suffer at the hands of the “Antichrist” (the Beast, Rev:13.) and that many Christians would die during the Tribulation and would only be delivered at the Return of Jesus Christ. That is what they all preached and wrote.

Moving further back to the Post Apostolic period, that is, right after the original Apostles died, especially after 100 AD when the Apostle John died and after he was inspired to write the Book of Revelation, we find written records and writings of several who were taught by the original disciples and other Biblical personalities or their immediate successors. Theses individuals are generally called the “Apostolic Fathers”, called such due to their close association and time frame to the original Apostles or they are called “Early Christian or Church Fathers” and the” Patristic Fathers”, those just before 325 AD.

Some Pre-Tribulation Rapture proponents contend that the earliest known extra-Biblical reference to the "Pre-Tribulation" rapture is from a sermon credited to the fourth-century Ephraem of Syria , which says, "For all the saints and Elect of God are gathered, prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins." However there is real doubt that Ephraem preached this, though there is no way to prove or disprove if he did or did not say this , the interpretation of this writing, as supporting Pre-Tribulation rapture, is debated by some. ***

Outside of the Reference by Ephraem the Syrian, there is none other found by any other Christian writer or minister from this time period or before..

There exist at least one 18th century and two 19th century Pre-Tribulation references, in a book published in 1788, in the writings of a Catholic priest Emmanuel Lacunza in 1812, and by John darby himself in 1827 which was after Mary MacDonald had her dream, both the book published in 1788 and the writings of Lacunza have opposing views regarding their interpretations. ***

Darby held to his views even after a confrontation with Charles Spurgon , when Darby publicly admitted that his views had problems which could not be resolved, in the end Darby used the following logic "I know that it is true because I believe it, and since I believe it I know that it is true".

***Wikipedia Article on the Rapture

To Be Continued

Rev.Todd Crouch, Pastor

The Fountain of Life Church a Congregation of Grace Communion
2101 Old National Pike.

Washington, Pennsylvania. www.gcfountainoflife.org

The Fountain of Life is heard on the RKP Radio Network 1710 and 1670 AM in Washington and North Franklin ,and 1790 AM in the Arden Fair Grounds area of Washington Pennsylvania, and on 1710 AM in Bentleyville and Monongahela, Pennsylvania. And online around the world at www.rkpradio.com

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