Pastor Greg Locke taking an extremely bold stand with this controversial tee.
If you have watered-down Christian friends, you may have seen Pastor Greg Locke’s videos pop up recently in your Facebook newsfeed. The way that Greg Locke gets his following is by putting out a video about whatever is the current trending topic that week. He’ll act like he’s taking a hard stand on an issue, but in reality, he always just says what about half of America would agree with.
For example, he was all over the Target bathroom policy issue when that was in the news. Another topic he supposedly took a stand on was when he complained that a gospel singer was cancelled from being on the Ellen Degeneres show. Why isn’t anyone asking why a Christian would even want to be on that show anyway, when Ellen DEGENERATE is an open Sodomite!?
Wow, he’s pro-Christian and against the democratic platform. Locke’s videos just repeat the same mainstream media talking points from Fox News or conservative talk radio. It’s not that hard to stand up and say something millions of people will back you up on.
Not only is Greg Locke a mainstream neo-conservative, but he is extremely politically correct in his preaching. In his response to the Orlando shooting, he lumps homosexuals in with Blacks like they are just another minority group and condemns Christians who said the incident was the judgment of God. In that same video where he expresses his condolences to the entire “LGBT community,” he brags that he just had a “gay” man in his church service that morning.
It’s a major red flag when a pastor switches from being King James only and goes completely liberal. That’s right, Greg Locke used to be an independent fundamental Baptist. Obviously, this guy was always a fraud and infiltrator.
“They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” 1 John 2:19
Frankly, Greg Locke couldn’t make it as an independent fundamental Baptist because his preaching wasn’t up to par. Even back when Locke was an IFB, I remember having a conversation with Brother Jimenez about how we didn’t care for him and couldn’t understand how he even got preaching engagements.
Once Locke found out he couldn’t gain the popularity he wanted in IFB circles, he just defected over to the worldly, sissified, skinny jeans wearing, bar stool sitting, purple lighting, non-denominational, praise and worship style of church.
Here is a quote taken from Pastor Greg Locke’s doctrinal statement:
“Salvation is truly everlasting life; however, those who have trusted Christ are his and will obey him and his word. We do not believe a person can live any way they so desire and be saved.”
This is not the Gospel. Salvation is a free gift. Locke tries to make it sound like you’ll do all the right things because you’re saved, but then in the next breath he says you can’t live however you want and be saved. It’s really just a thinly-veiled works salvation, and this type of double speak is just what one would expect from a politician like Pastor Greg Locke.
If this man looks familiar, you may have seen him on the hell-e-vision station, “Emmanuel TV.” Hopefully you don’t watch that, but “Prophet T.B. Joshua” is the leader of Nigeria’s Synagogue Church of all Nations (SCOAN), and he recently announced that God told him the next president of the United States would be a woman. Since all the polls were saying Hillary was ahead, it’s not like T.B. was going out on a limb by predicting what people already knew…
Well, surprise, T.B. Joshua! Hillary didn’t win, so you are a proven false prophet! I’m not saying T.B. just guessed wrong about the election like a lot of other people did, but he actually said that GOD TOLD HIM a woman would win! Even after this epic fail, T.B.’s followers just can’t admit their hero is a fraud.
What about the irrelevance of his predictions? He gave advance notice of Michael Jackson’s death, but somehow he did not foresee the collapse of a SCOAN guesthouse in Lagos, which killed 115 of T.B. Joshua's followers. Regarding T.B. Joshua’s recent political prediction--Did people actually think that God felt the need to notify some guy in Nigeria of who the next U.S. president would be just 2 days before the election!? What would be the point?
It’s not like we had to hear about the failed prophecy to know T.B. Joshua was bad. From what I’ve read, the guy sounds Satanic, but he already lost me at being a popular TV preacher and by calling his church a synagogue! T. B. and others like him are wrong on all kinds of doctrine, including the Gospel, so they are false teachers anyway. There are Pentecostal/Charismatic preachers like this all over Africa, getting rich doing fake healings and making false predictions. We need more bold men of God living on the dark continent to rise up and speak out against these deceivers.
We aren’t living in the Old Testament where they only had part of the Bible and needed some additional information to know how to proceed. We can read Genesis through Revelation and then read it again, and learn something new every time. Unfortunately, the majority of people following these phony prophets haven’t even bothered to finish reading the Bible one time. The fact that people were so excited about T.B. Joshua’s big prediction just goes to show that they are more interested in what’s going on in politics than in the truths that God reveals to us in his word.
"For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things." - Philippians 3:18-19
If you look at the big time false prophets, they’re making a million dollars a year. Forget six figures—they’re making seven! Look up the net worth of these charlatans. People like Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer aren’t just making a reasonable living—they are FILTHY RICH! Even just “Joe Megachurch” in your home town is often making millions.
They drive fancy cars. They have a mansion—or three. They have money laid up, and they’re laughing all the way to the bank. If you’re a preacher of God’s Word, and you’re laying up treasures upon this earth, you are a hypocrite.
“For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate; Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.” Titus 1:7-11
The above passage makes it clear that a pastor should not be selfish or in it for the money. A man of God doesn’t pastor a church because he thinks it will be lucrative—he does it for the Lord and to help others.
"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." - Matthew 6:19-20
If I ever come into a million dollars, I’ll get rid of it as fast as I can. Not only will I spend the money right away, but I’ll try to spend it on whatever would help further the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Bible makes it clear that pastors should not be rich, but even if I was not in the ministry, I would avoid accumulating excessive wealth since God has repeatedly warned us of the pitfalls of earthly riches.
“Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:” Proverbs 30:8
“But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.” 1 Timothy 6:9
“And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.” Leviticus 10: 1-2
When God tells us how to do something, we need to do it his way. Just because someone’s heart is in the right place, does not mean God will accept whatever they do. It’s just like when Cain brought vegetables instead of a lamb—God did not accept that. Images and icons used today to represent Christianity are “strange fire,” since God never told us to use these things. In fact, he commanded us not to make graven images or likenesses. It’s not just that he didn’t want us worshipping false gods, either.
When God reminded the Children of Israel that they saw “no similitude” when he spoke unto them, he was telling them not to not even make an image of HIM. A crucifix on a necklace or a picture of Jesus on the wall counts as a “similitude” or “likeness.” A molten fish or a molten dove on the back of your car are molten images of the two animals God specifically used as examples of what not to make. Get rid of those things, and, while you are at it, stop displaying that picture of the long-haired “Jesus.” That’s not what he looked like, anyway. In fact, he did not leave us any picture to remember him by. He left us his word. Trying to represent Christianity with religious icons that we are commanded not to use is offering “strange fire.”
12 And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.
13 And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.
14 And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.
15 Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
16 Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
17 The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,
18 The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:
19 And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.
20 But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.
21 Furthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance:
22 But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and possess that good land.
23 Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee.
24 For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
Deuteronomy 4:12-24
“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.” Exodus 20:4
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the ecumenical movement…”
Is it just me or do you feel uncomfortable with the “Christian flag,” which is displayed and even pledged to in many independent Baptist churches? The Christian flag originated in some kind of Protestant Sunday school class and the Methodists wrote its corresponding pledge. Although the flag is said to be primarily used by Protestants, I heard about a Catholic school in Sacramento, California, having students pledge to it, so apparently Catholics now fly this flag as well.
The Christian flag has also been widely accepted by independent Baptists who are supposedly “separated.” (Baptists are not Protestants by the way.) Although the Roman Catholic church and many other closely related European denominations each have their own specific flag, many of these, including the Eastern Orthodox church, have now adopted the Christian flag. The following is a quote from Wikipedia:
“The ecumenical Christian organization, Federal Council of Churches, now succeeded by the National Council of Churches and Christian Churches Together, adopted the flag on 23 January 1942.[1] The Christian Flag intentionally has no patent, as the designer dedicated the flag to all of Christendom.”
Another flag that also had a red cross on it was flown during the Crusades when Christians were persecuted and murdered by the Catholic church. It seems obvious to assume that the modern-day Christian flag will someday represent the one world religion of the anti-Christ, and we are certainly not allegiant to that. As if that weren’t reason enough, the Christian flag is just another religious icon that has no place in a Baptist church.
A pledge of allegiance might even be considered a vow or a vain repetition of sorts, but if you insist on pledging allegiance to something, pledge allegiance to God and the Bible. Countries change, so-called Christianity changes, but the Word of God is unchanging. The following is the Bible pledge that they say in some churches.
“I pledge allegiance to the Bible, God's Holy Word, I will make it a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path and will hide its words in my heart that I might not sin against God.”
Churches on occasion will have ceremonies where they pledge to the American flag, the Christian flag and the Bible, so you may want to sit it out during a couple of those. However you feel about pledging allegiance to our country these days (I don’t), at least stop pledging to the “Christian” flag.
“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Matthew 7:13-14
Now, the part of the chapter that I want to focus on is beginning there in verse 22, where the Bible reads "Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." Now this week, Pope Francis is visiting the United States. I think that Pope Francis is the greatest false prophet on the earth at this time ...
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: ... as far as the most people listen to him, look to him. He has over a billion people following him, worshiping him literally. The title of the sermon this morning is Pope Francis and his Lies. I'm going to start out here with the quote from Saint ... Not St. Francis, good night ... Pope Francis, because I've got a list of quotes from him, and I just want to show you how this man is a false prophet, and what he teaches is directly contrary to the Bible. You say, "Well, I'm offended by the sermon." Here's the thing though. The Word of God is the final authority.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: If he is preaching lies in the face of the Word of God which is the truth, then the truth needs to be preached and he needs to be pointed out as the false prophet and liar that he is.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: Now, first of all, here's a quote from Pope Francis. He said this, "The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us with the blood of Christ. All of us, not just Catholics, everyone. But father, the atheist? Even the atheist, everyone." According to Pope Francis, everyone is redeemed by the blood of Christ, even an atheist. You don't even have to believe in God. You don't even have to believe in Jesus, according to Pope Francis in order to be redeemed. First of all, the fact that he's even calling himself father right there is blasphemy even in itself. Even the name The Pope is blasphemy. The Pope is just another language for the father. The Bible says "Call no man your Father upon the earth, for one is your Father which is in heaven." The Bible says in Matthew 23 that we're not to be called Father, Master or Rabbi. These are terms that are off limits for a religious leader. We should be called pastor, teacher, bishop, elder, but never Father, never Rabbi, never Master. Those names are over the top. Look down at the Bible and let's see if Sat- ... or good night. Why do I keep calling that? Let's see if Po- ... You know why, I'll tell you why.
There's this really good restaurant called St. Francis, and I eat there all ... I love it. Maybe I'm just hungry. Anyway, look what the Bible says in Romans 3:22 "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." Now according to Pope Francis, this redemption is for everybody, even people who don't even believe, even atheist. They're redeemed by the blood of Christ, but keep reading. It says at the end of verse 24 "The redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God had set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God, to declare Isaiah at this time, his righteousness that he might be just, and the justifier of him of him which believeth in Jesus." You see, he's only the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. The redemption is through faith in his blood. It's not just a redemption where it doesn't matter what you believe. Everybody's going to go in heaven.
You know, the Bible says "Neither is there salvation and in the other, for there is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved. The name of Jesus, he said 'I'm the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me." Pope Francis just gets up and says, "Hey, we're all redeemed. We're all saved. Even atheists are saved." Here's another quote along the same lines from Pope Francis "Since many of you do not belong to the Catholic church, and others are non-believers, say some of you don't believe whatsoever. Non-believers, from the bottom of my heart, I give this silent blessing to each and everyone of you, respecting the conscience of each one of you, but knowing that each one of you is a child of God." He's basically just saying everybody's a child of God.
Listen to this quote "The Son of God became incarnate in the souls of men to instill the feeling of brotherhood." I thought that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Apparently, he was sent just to instill the feeling of brotherhood. He said all are brothers and all are children of God. That is not what the Bible teaches. Now if you would flip over to John chapter 1, just a few pages left in your Bible, John chapter 1. Let's see what the Bible says in line to this. Francis' messages "Hey, everybody say everybody's redeemed. We're all children of God. We're all brothers and sisters in Christ." What does the Bible say? In Galatians 3:26 it says, "For you're all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. "
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: What makes us a child of God is our faith in Jesus. Then the Bible says in John 1:12 "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his Name." Look, you become a son of God, meaning you weren't one before. When you believe on the name of Jesus, you become a son of God. It's only those who are saved who are children of God, according to the Bible. It's not that we're all just children of God. That's not true. Now also, the thing that keeps coming up in the Scriptures that we're looking at, is the fact that salvation's by believing. This is another thing that the Roman Catholic church does not teach. It's another thing that the Pope would not stand for, because they teach that you have to do works in order to be saved. You have to believe, but also you have to do works. Then Francis, he just eliminates the belief part altogether and said, "Well, just do works and you'll be fine. Just do good." Listen to this, along the same lines he said, "Proselytism is solemn nonsense. It makes no sense. We need to get to know each other, listen to each other and improve our knowledge of the world around us."
Now, just to explain to you what the word "proselyte" means. It's a word that's used four times in the Bible. The word "proselyte" simply means a person who converts from one religion to another, that's called a proselyte, when you switch religions. He's saying, "Proselytism is nonsense." He's saying, "Trying to get people to convert to Christianity is nonsense," according to Francis. "Remember, we're all redeemed." He says, "Instead, instead of going out and trying to get people to convert to Christianity,' he says, 'Instead we need to get to know each other, listen to each other and improve our knowledge of the world for us." Is that what the Bible says? Improve your knowledge of the world, listen to other religions, get to know other religions. No. The Bible says "Can a clean thing come out of an unclean? Not one."
The Bible says "Go ye therefore into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." He says some saved with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garments inspired by the flesh, that converting people. He's saying "Preach unto them that there's no salvation in any other. That they need to be saved through the blood of Jesus." He said "Pull them out of the fire. Compel them to be saved," the Bible says. Yet, Francis says, "Well, that's just nonsense. We just need to, we just need to learn about the Hindus. We just need to learn how to gain what we can from Islam, and we just need to learn from the Jews, and just get to know each other. Don't try to convert them." No. We ought to try to convert them. Listen. If we don't try to convert them, it shows that we don't love them.
Congregation: Right.
Pastor: We know that the Bible says, "That he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. But he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." If we know that God's wrath is abiding on someone, if we know that hell is their eternal destiny, if we know that the Bible says that they all might be damned, who believed not the truth, but on pleasure and righteousness, what kind of a person we will be if we wouldn't warn them? The Bible says that we should warn all men, in Colossians chapter 1. If we knew that someone were in grave danger, we would warn them. If the house is on fire, you warn them. If they're about to drink poison, you warn them. You don't just stand by and let it happen and say, "Well, I'm just going to get to know you as you burn in the house on fire. I just want to learn more about you as you go sailing off the cliff in your vehicle." That doesn't make any sense, does it? It does makes sense to somebody who just doesn't believe the Bible.
Congregation: Right.
Pastor: And just doesn't believe that salvation is through Jesus at all. He, "Yeah. We're all redeemed, let's just get to know each other." It's false. Listen to this quote from Pope Francis "Each of us has a vision of good and of evil. We have to encourage people to move toward what they think is good. Everyone has his own idea of good and evil and must choose to follow the good and fight evil as he conceives them.
Congregation: Wow.
Pastor: That would be enough to make the world a better place." He's saying we all have our own ideas of good and evil. They're all different from one another, and all we have to do is just do what we think is good. Look. This is what Pope Francis said. I'm not making this stuff up. Go fact, check this. If you're going to sit there and say, "Oh, I can't believe you're getting on Catholicism." Here's a thing about Catholicism. You can't be a Catholic without acknowledging Pope Francis as the representative of God on earth. That's what Catholicism is all about. If I were to take you this afternoon to a Catholic bookstore, we would walk in there, and there would just be pictures everywhere of Pope Francis. Pictures everywhere of previous Popes. Pictures everywhere of Mary and [inaudible 00:10:35], but the Pope would be everywhere. This is part of the religion, is your following this guy. This guy is your pastor. This guy is your leader. According to Catholicism, he says, "Well, everybody has their own ideas about what's good. As long as they just do what they think is good, that's enough." What about the absolute right and wrong that God had set forth in the Bible?
Now, listen to some Scriptures from the Bible along these lines. In the Book of Proverbs, you don't have to turn there. If you would flip over to I Corinthians 5, I'm going to read for you from the Book of Proverbs "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." Just following what you think is good, the Bible says "The end there is the way of death." If you just go with what seems right, now you've got to go what the Bible says is right. Listen to this, Proverbs 3:7 "Be not wise in thine own eyes. Fear the Lord and depart from evil." Proverbs 12:15 "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes. But he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise." A fool always thinks that he's right, the Bible says. Francis says, "Hey, just go with it, then we would be living a life of foolishness."
The Bible says in Proverbs 16:2 "All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes, but the Lord weigheth the spirits." Look, everybody thinks that what they do is right, that's why they're doing it. If they didn't think it's right, they wouldn't be doing it. I mean, people like to justify their own actions. Pope Francis says, "Hey. As long as you think is right, just do it. Just go with it. That's all you need to do." Proverbs 21:2 "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord pondereth the hearts." Proverbs 30 verse 12 "There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes and yet is not washed from their filthiness."
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: It says even the filthiest of generations think that they're pure in their own eyes.
Congregation: Right.
Pastor: Isaiah 5:21 "Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight." You know, we can't trust ourselves to decide what's right and wrong. We go with the Word of God to tell us what is right and what is wrong. The Bible says "Whoso trusteth in his own heart is a fool." The Bible says, "the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?" So long those same lines, here's another quote from Pope Francis "If someone's gay' and he and I don't use that word but he does, 'If someone's gay," and he doesn't mean like if they're happy and cheerful and friendly and nice to be around either.
Congregation: Sodomite.
Pastor: Yeah, they're a Sodomite. "If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge? We shouldn't marginalize people for this, they must be integrated into society." Now, let's look what the Bible says, because he says "Who am I to judge?" It's like, "Whoa. Whom am I to judge somebody who's a homo?" Look at I Corinthians chapter 5 verse 1, because this is about fornication, and being a homo is the worst kind of fornication. It's even a worst fornication. The Bible says in I Corinthians 5:1 "It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you and such fornication is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that once you'd have his father's wife, and you're puffed up and if not rather mourned, that he that had done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily as absent in body but present in Spirit have decided, who am I to judge?" Is that what it says? No. He says, "I verily is absent in body but present in Spirit have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed."
If someone is in major sin to the tune of fornication, to the tune of Sodomy, to the tune of adultery, should we just say, "Well, who am I to judge?" No. He said, "I've judged already. I wouldn't be even there." Why? Because God's Word is absolute on these things. Now, just flip one page to the right. I Corinthians 6, in case you have any doubt about whether or not it's right for us to judge. This has become the mantra of the atheist today, the mantra of the left wing today is just this "judge not." They take it out of context. They don't get Christ full teaching. Look at I Corinthians 6:2 "Do you not know that the same shall judge the world?" Pope Francis? "And if the world shall be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life, if then you have judgement of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who were least esteemed in the church. I speak to your shame. Is it so that there is not a wise man among you? Know not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? But he's just saying, "Oh. Who am I to judge?"
The Bible says that even the least esteemed person in the church is qualified to judge matters of this life. We're going to judge angels and the saints. We're going to judge the world. This idea of "who am I to judge" doesn't make any sense. Jesus said in John 7:24 "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgement." We are to judge, but we're to judge righteous judgement. Here's another quote from him along in the same line. He said, "A person once asked me in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with another question, "Tell me, when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love or reject and condemn this person? We must always consider the person. Now, here's the thing about Pope Francis's statement here. First of all, he says, "You know, well, when God looks at them, does he reject or condemn?" First of all, the very term "reprobate" literally means reject, and Romans 1 which is all about this issue, uses that word reprobate. Yes, he does reject them. Then he said, "Well, would you condemn them?" What does the Bible say? Flip over to Jude, second to last book in the New Testament is Jude.
While you're turning there, I'll read for you from Leviticus 20:13 "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them." Now, notice he doesn't say, "They shall surely be integrated into society." Which is what he said, right? He says "They shall surely be put to death, their blood shall be upon them." Listen to, he says right in Old Testament. Okay, let's go to New Testament. Jude verse 7 "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah," which by the way, Sodom and Gomorrah is an Old Testament story, very early in the Bible, Genesis 19, 19th chapter in the whole Bible. "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh, queer flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." Notice he says, "That story of Sodom and Gomorrah," is present tense today, an example. Thousands of years after Sodom and Gomorrah, Jude is preaching and saying "Sodom and Gomorrah is our example today of those that should afterward live ungodly." He says they are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise also, this filthy dreamers defile the flesh.
Now, is this Francis' attitude? Is he saying, "Well, this filthy people, but who am I to judge?" That's not what he said, this is like, "Oh man, you know. We don't want to condemn. We don't want to reject. Who am I to judge? I mean, let's integrate them. Let's just bring them in." He says, "Likewise also, this filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominions, speak evil of dignities." Flip a few pages to the left of your Bible towards 2 Peter 2. Just a couple of pages to the left, 2 Peter chapter 2. The Bible says in verse 6 "And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that after should live ungodly. And delivered just Lot, vexed with filthy conversation of the wicked. For that righteous man dwelling among them and seeing and hearing vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgement to be punished." God described them as filthy. God is ready to judge them. God is bringing up Sodom and Gomorrah's an example saying, "Don't think that I've changed on this."
I feel the same about it today as I felt about it, when I poured fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah. That's an example. See, he doesn't have to do that to every San Francisco that's out there. He just saying "I did it once as an example." It's the eternal fire that they ought to worry about. You know, fire that comes down from the sky and burned up Sodom and Gomorrah, that's temporal, but the eternal fire is hell. Francis is way off pace with this, but what's he doing? Being popular. This is what people want to hear today. They don't want to hear Sodomy condemned. They don't want to hear the homos reviled. They wanted to be accepted and lo- ... I mean it's a popular message when you say everybody saved. Everybody's redeemed. Everybody's going to heaven. Let's not judge anyone. Here's another quote from Pope Francis. He said this, "A church without women would be like the Apostolic College without Mary. Listen to this, the Madonna is more important than the apostles. According to the Pope, the Madonna which is the Virgin Mary, the Madonna is more important than the apostles.
Let's see if that matches up with Scripture, because let's face it. One of the major features of Catholicism is the worship of Mary. You don't believe me? Let's get in the car and let's drive less than two miles and we will enter the city of Guadalupe. When we enter the city of Guadalupe and I know, because I personally have pretty much knocked every single door in Guadalupe. Our church has knocked the door's of Guadalupe about six times. Since I was a part of all six of those times, knocking every single door in Guadalupe, I probably personally knocked most of the doors in Guadalupe myself. I've definitely walked up and down every single street in Guadalupe, even if I didn't knock every door, I walked up and down every single street. Almost every single house has an idol unto Mary. In the front lawn, they have a little shrine, they have a little altar. Everywhere, imagery of Mary. It's called Mariolotry. You know, idolatry around Mary, they worship Mary. You drive down to Mexico, you see the same thing. Drive, even just on the road, you're just driving down the highway, out of the middle of nowhere, just a Mary shrine here, Mary shrine there, Mary shrine here, everywhere. It's extremely common. If we walk in again to the Catholic bookstore, there would be just a multitude of pictures of Mary.
They pray to Mary. They worship Mary, there're images of Mary, they put a big emphasis on Mary. When people think of Catholicism, they think of Mary. That's one of the biggest things that distinguishes Catholicism from Evangelical Christianity or from being Baptist or any other just normal Bible believing Christian. The thing that distinguishes the Catholic from the Christian is Mary, worship. I mean, that's part of the big one. According to the Pope, the Madonna, Mary is more important than the apostles. Let's think about this for a second. How many times is Mary mentioned in the Bible? If we look up how many times Mary is mentioned by name in the Bible, it's 19 times. 19 times in this book. Let's compare that with some other Bible characters. The Lord is mentioned 8,000 times. David, King David, David and Goliath: 1,139 times. Mary: 19. David: 1139. Jesus is mentioned over 900 times. Mary: 19. Moses is mentioned 848 times. Mary: 19. Aaron, I mean and Aaron wasn't really the coolest Bible character ever. Aaron himself is mentioned 350 times. Jacob is mentioned 377 times. Abraham is mentioned 250 times. Listen, the Old Testament King Saul, King Saul is mentioned almost 400 times. Mary: 19. This is the big emphasis for them. I mean, this is their whole ... You know what that tells me? Their religion is not based on this Book at all.
Congregation: Right.
Pastor: Even the Koran mentions Mary more than the Bible. The Koran mentions Mary 35 times or 34 times. I mean the Bible only mentions Mary 19 times in the whole Bible. Why? Because she's not emphasized. In fact, someone even came up to Jesus and a woman cried out in the crowd and she said, "Blessed is the womb that bear thee, and blessed are the pops which thou art sucked. And he said, 'Ye, what a blessed is he that heareth the Word of God and doeth it."
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: "You'll be more blessed than Mary,' he said, 'if you just hear the Word of God and doeth." What about when Jesus is preaching in Matthew chapter 12, and his mother and his brethren stand without desiring to meet with them. He says, "Who is my mother and who are my brethren?' And he stretched out his hand towards his disciples and say, 'Behold my mother and my brother. For whoso ever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven,' he said, 'the same is my brother and sister and mother." Yet, they're lifting up Mary as literally a goddess, as literally as being someone that they pray to, worship, greatly emphasize huge emphasis and yet Caleb is mentioned 36 times. Even Caleb. Joshua was mentioned 216 times. Samson is mentioned 39 times. Hezekiah is mentioned a 128 times. Mary: 19. The Apostle Paul is mentioned over a 180 times, because remember, the Pope said, "Hey, the Madonna's more important than the apostles." Okay, well, then why is the Apostle Paul mentioned over a 180 times? In addition to writing 13 of the 27 books of the ... or 14 of the 27 books of the New Testament, if she's more important. What about Peter? He's mentioned a 162 times. Mary's mentioned 19 times. Other Marys.
You know, there're other Mary's in the Bible like for example Mary and Martha, Mary Magdalene. The other Marys, because there's about four or five other Marys, they're mentioned 35 times, other Marys. Most of the time, when Marys mentioned, it's not even that Mary. It's other Marys that are being mentioned, more than the Madonna so called. You say, "Well, you know. The Bible just doesn't talk a lot about women." Sarah is mentioned 59 times. There's a woman in the Bible, it's mentioned more than three times as many times as the Virgin Mary. What about Esther? Mentioned 56 times. Look, even Jezebel is mentioned 22 times. King Saul's daughter, King Saul's daughter Michal which virtually no one, unless they read the whole Bible or been in church the whole life, has never been heard of. King Saul's daughter Michal is mentioned 18 times. One more mention and she would have tied the Virgin Mary. It's clear that the Bible does not put this huge emphasis on Mary. It says, how can you ignore this? Even the monks, some of them mentions of Mary, some of them are Jesus telling people, "Whoa. You're putting her on two eye of a pedestal." You know, what about when Jesus looked at Mary and said, "Woman, what have I to do with thee?"
I'm just saying, you know, but to sit there and put her as the mother of God, it's false because of the fact that Jesus Christ existed before his incarnation, before he became flesh. The Bible says "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God, the same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him. Without him, was not anything made that was made in,' and said, 'And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Hebrews 7 says of Jesus, "Without Father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made likened to the son of God, abideth the priest continually." There are two aspects of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was human, but he was also God in the flesh. Here's the thing, Mary was only his mother humanly speaking just of the flesh. That's why even when they called Jesus the Son of David, because he was of David according to the flesh. He even said, "Well, if David calls him Lord, how is he then his son?" What he's showing there is that, "Wait a minute. I'm God in the flesh so I'm above David. I'm above Abraham. I'm above Mary." That's why Mary called the Lord her Savior. She needed a Savior. She wasn't perfect.
She was a great woman, but she does not deserve to be worshiped as a goddess or anything else. Is it from the Bible? No. The bible barely even mentions her, very, very minor character. We can list many, many other people, scores of other characters that are mentioned more times, way more times, hundreds more times. Look if you would at Jeremiah chapter 7. You say where is this? Where is this Mary worship coming from? I'll tell you where it comes from. It comes from eastern false religion, eastern false religion. You see, if you were to go to India, they have been worshiping the great mother, the great goddess for thousand of years, even thousand of years before Jesus Christ. You know, when they're not worshiping the golden calf, and when they're not worshiping Satan, when they're not worshiping serpents and you know, all their different false gods of Hinduism. You know, in Southern India, they have been worshiping the great mother. In fact, they even perform human human sacrifices under this false female deity. This is something that is part of eastern religion, going back thousands of years in India. This is where it come from, it come from the devil, and the Bible talks about it. Because of the fact that in Jeremiah, some of the children of Israel had gotten mixed up in some of these false religions from the east.
Now the thing about this, is that in this passage, she's referred to as the "queen of heaven" that they're worshiping. Even today, Catholics were referred to Mary as the queen of heaven, literally. In fact, I even saw a cemetery in Phoenix that said "Queen of Heaven Cemetery." I've seen a Queen of Heaven in Catholic Church, naming the church after it. Look at Jeremiah chapter 7. It says in verse 18 "The children gather wood and the fathers kindled the fire, and the women knead their dough to make cakes to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods that they may provoke me to anger." Now, does this sound familiar? You're basically making a cake and a drink and worshiping the queen of heaven? See, there's nothing new under the sun. Go to Jeremiah 44. You know, if you were here a few months ago, you remember the sermon I did a few months ago, where I showed that Buddhism and Catholicism have the same false teachings, and that Catholicism basically, all the weird stuff that's in Catholicism and you wonder where it came from? It came from Buddhism, because Buddhism is from 500 BC approximately. That's where they get the nuns, the monks.
Did you ever wonder why there's the Buddhist monks and the Catholic monks, and the Buddhist nuns and the Catholic nuns, and the Buddhist monastery and the Catholic monastery, and the Buddhist have a ...and I'm not going to repeat that sermon, but I went through and showed all the things that they've just imported from eastern false religion. Look what the Bible says in Jeremiah chapter 44 verse 15 "Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods and all the women that stood by a great multitude, even all the people that dwell in the land of Egypt in Pathros, answered Jeremiah saying, 'As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the Name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee. But we will certainly do whatsover thing goeth forth out of our own mouth." That reminds me of what Francis said "Just do what you think is right. Do what you think is good." "To burn incense under the queen of heaven," that's another thing that the Catholics like to do, don't they? Burn incense under the queen of heaven.
"And to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done. We and our fathers, our kings and our princess in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: For then, have we plenty of victuals and were well and saw no evil. But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?" They're saying the men were doing it too. This, I don't understand why this wouldn't go against the grain, for men to bow down and worship a woman. You say, "Oh. You're so misogynistic. Oh, you're chauvinist, sexist, pig." Here's the thing though. You know we as men are wired by God not to be ruled over by women.
Congregation: Right.
Pastor: That's why the Bible says the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church. We, as men have a desire to lead a woman and not to be led by a woman. Women naturally have a desire to follow their husband, not to rule over their husband. Now, our society has tried to engineer that differently, through the brainwashing campaigns in school and TV and media, to try to get women to think that they really want to be powerful and bossy. Atually, it makes women miserable to be in that role that they don't belong in. They're much happier when they get into their proper role, you know, with the strong men leading them. Men are not naturally inclined to want to be in submission unto a woman. It's just kind of strange the whole religion that's based upon the worshiping a woman. It goes against the grain for a man who understands the man's role in the family. The man's ... I mean to understands it in a home, dad's the boss. Then in the marriage, the husband is the boss. To have this attitude where we're worshiping a woman in heaven, and that she's going to somehow tell Jesus how things are going to be, and we go to her to intercede and she intercedes with us to Jesus.
She's even known as the mediatrics, basically a feminine version of the mediator. The Bible says there's one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. The priest is not a mediator, the Pope is not a mediator, Mary is not a mediator. There's one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. That is the only mediator. No man cometh unto the Father but by him. The Bible says that we boldly come before the throne of grace and find mercy, and obtain health in time of need through our High Priest Jesus Christ, not through the confessional booth. Not through, you know, all these prayers to saints, and prayers to Mary and all these different people. It's false. Here's the Good News though. In conclusion, those are all the quotes that I have from Pope Francis. You can see that he's a liar. You can that he's a false prophets. He's wrong on salvation. He's wrong on morality. He's wrong on so many things, and yet people are looking to him to day as being a representative of God on the service. People today are crying. They're trying to literally touch the hem of his garment. They're hoping that the shadow of him might pass over them. They want to just touch that foot or kiss that big toe and never wash that mouth again.
You know what? People think it's a joke, but literally kissing the Pope's big toe is a Catholic tradition. For hundreds, and basically it used to be that they would come and kiss his hand, which is already humiliating yourself, when you bow down and kiss a man's hand. Then, they changed it to kissing his foot. I forget which Pope that changed, but there's a certain historical Pope that said, "You know what, from now on you're going to kiss my foot." They kiss his toe. Then, there's even a statue where they kiss the toe so much the the toe is worn away from all the mouths, wearing away. This is not a joke. This is real. If I ever had a chance to kiss the Pope's big toe, I'll bite it off. Anyway, here's the conclusion of, here's the good news. The good news is that Catholics are some of the easiest people to get saved.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: You know, the good ... You say, "Oh, men. You hate Catholics. You're going to hate them " I don't hate Catholics at all. You know if I hated Catholics, I will just tell them, "Hey, you're all saved. You guys are just like, that you're going to heaven." That would be hate because then, it just feels like, "See ya," as they go off into hell. No. The truth is, that Catholics are some of the easiest people to get saved. When I go out soul winning, and I get into a Catholic area, that's usually an area where you're going to get people saved. Why? Because most people are Catholics only out of ignorance. They're born into it. They're sprinkled into it as a baby and they just don't know any better. It's not even that they're just choosing to follow a lie, it's just that they're just raised with it. They don't know any better. Usually, if you can show a Catholic the Gospel from the Bible, they're very likely to be saved. In fact, if I were to choose between talking to a Jew, a Muslim, a Catholic, a Pentecostal, or you know a Mormon, a Jehovah's Witness, an atheist, a Buddhist, a Hindu, the one that would probably be the most likely to get saved is the Catholic. Baptist churches today across America are filled with ex-Catholics, filled with them.
In fact, right now, let me ask, who here used to be Catholic? Put up your hand. Look around the building. This is how many people used to be Catholic. The great news is that the one billion Catholics in this world are ripe unto harvest. They're ready to be saved. We need to get out there, knock doors and say, "Why do you knock the doors in Guadalupe, five, six times? That's why. It's a receptive area. It's an area where you want ... Now of course, you're going to run into the rare, died in the wall of Catholic who actually knows what they believe and is really strong on the doctrines of the church and so forth. The vast majority of Catholics, you know it and I know it, they show up to church about three times a year, just when somebody is getting baptized or getting married or something like that. They're not really that into it, and they're usually pretty open to hearing what the Bible says about the Gospel. If you do a thorough job and show them the Scriptures and make sure that they know that it's by faith and not works, and make sure that they know, "Hey. This is what..." and what I do is first I go to the whole plan of salvation with them.
I don't just come out right away and say, "You know, Francis ..." and start going after him. Because then, they're just go and shut the door. What I usually do is I start out by just going through the whole plan of salvation like I normally would. Just ask them if they know they're going to heaven, Can I show you? I go through the whole thing, and I show him it's by faith, that it's not by works. I showed them that it's eternal. Then, when I get down to the very end though because sometimes, Catholics could have a tendency to just politely listen to you and then they'll just those will repeat a prayer with you because they're so used to chanting stuff. That doesn't mean that they're saved, because it is our faith that saves us, not just saying words that we don't mean. Therefore, I always get to the end after I give them the Gospel. I say this, I say, "Well, listen. You said you mentioned you were Catholic. The Catholic church teaches something different than what I've been showing you for the past ten minutes. They actually teach that you do have to do works, that you have to perform the sacraments, go to church, do good deeds in order to get to heaven, whereas the Bible is saying that it's just all by our faith in Jesus. It's not of works, lest any man should boast.
Now, which one do you believe?" That way, I'm bringing them to a point where they have to make a decision, not just, "Well, let me just tag this on to the other thousands of prayers I prayed. They actually understand, "No, no, no. I'm going to stop believing in the wrong way and I'm going to start believing in the right way. I'm going to ask Jesus to be my Savior, putting all my faith in him. Not ask him to be my Savior but really I'm doing the work. I'm doing it through the church, and I'm doing it through Mary and everything else." Usually, when I get to that point if I ask that question "which one do you believe," you'll get one of two answers. You'll get the people that say, "Well, I believe what the Bible says that it's all by faith." You know, and that person has got it. Then, you pray with them and they call upon the Name of Lord and it's a done deal. A lot of times that I'll get to that point, I'll ask that question, and they'll say, "Well, you know. I still believe in what the Catholic church teaches." Then, at the point, "It's all right. Well, you know, think about what I showed you. Have a good day." Move on.
They're not ready to accept the truth. They've heard it, they understood it, but they're just going to stick with tradition. They're going to stick with what they've been handed up. The big word that comes to mind with Catholicism is tradition. Catholics that are really serious Catholics, which I said are kind of rare really. But when you run into this really serious Catholics that really are versed in it, they'll tell you that you don't have the right to interpret the Bible on your own. The church needs to interpret it for you and so forth. Well, one time, I was on this airplane and I was talking to a guy, that was one of these really serious Catholics. We spent hours talking because we're on the plane, we're sitting by each other. There's nothing else to do, captive Congregation, you know. We spent hours talking. This guy was a really serious Catholic and he's telling me the church is what interprets it for you. You can't interpret on your own in [inaudible 00:42:54]. He was part of a branch of Catholicism that was a more fundamentalist branch, so basically they accept everything up until Vatican 2. Vatican 2 was a major overhaul of the Catholic church that took place in the 1960s.
In Vatican 2, that's when they stopped doing the services in Latin, and started actually doing them in languages that people spoke. They also said, "Hey, you know. The Jews aren't responsible for the death of Jesus," and you know, something like that. They just change some of their doctrine and they changed some of their teachings. They basically just got a lot more liberal and a lot more modernistic in the '60s that this thing called Vatican 2. This guy said, "Well, we believe everything up to Vatican 2." I looked at the guy and said, "Wait a minute. You just told me that you can't interpret the Bible on your own, but that the church is supposed to do it for you. So why are you accepting the first 20 of these ecumenical councils and then you're going to reject number 21, Vatican 2?" He's just like, "Well, you know, uh ... yeah." It's like, "Wait a minute. If you're just going to blindly follow the church as your final authority, then you have to accept Vatican 2. And when they say, 'Hey, it's okay to be a homo, you have to accept that too. Look, whatever they tell you because you're just like whoo, whoo, whoo, you know. I can't interpret the Bible on my own, must follow Roman church.
If you're going to be that way, then you have to accept everything that he's ... Every stupid thing that they say." And who knows what ... Because listen, they haven't always believed the way they believe now. They've changed things. There was a certain time when the infant baptism was introduced, when the sprinkling was introduced. There were certain time when the worship of Mary was introduced, Mary's sinless life was introduced, the ascension of Mary to heaven. I mean, I saw that in the Bible but they teach that Mary ascended into heaven, like Jesus, because she never died. These doctrines were ruled out later. Catholicism is a religion where you just believe what the church tells you. Let me tell you something. This church, Faithful Word Baptist Church is not a church were you're expected to believe what the church tells you. You are expected to believe what the Bible tells you. I'll say it right now. If I get up and preach something that's not biblical, you have every right to walk away and say, "I don't agree with Pastor Anderson on that, because that's not what the Bible says."
This is the final, I'm not the final authority. I'm just up here preaching, expounding and then it's your job to basically decide whether what I'm preaching is true. If what I'm preaching is not true, then you can go somewhere else and find someone that's teaching the truth. If I am preaching the truth, then you come and be a part of the church and say, "Yes. This is something that I want to follow on because he's preaching the truth." According to the Bible, like Paul said "Follow me as I follow Christ." Whereas the Catholic church is saying that the church is the authority, the Bible is lower on the list, because you're not reading it right. You're interpreting. Whereas the Bible says that the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth. We don't need a mediator to teach us the Bible, or else we could just never figure it out on our own.
The good news is that Catholics are easy to win to the Lord, and if we love our Catholic co-worker or Catholic neighbor or you know, Catholic acquaintances, then we need to give them the Gospel. We need to show them the truth and preach the truth in love and show them how to be saved. Not get this idea that Catholics are saved because a lot of Baptist even today, they'll, "Oh. Catholics are saved." They're not saved, because they believe the salvation by works. You say, "Well, you say that all the Catholics, all billion Catholics are wrong?" Yes. I'm saying that broad is the way that leads to destruction.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: Many there'll be which go into wrath because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leads them the life and few there be to find it. We need to go out and preach the truth. We need to expose this Francis for the fraud that he is. Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much, Lord for the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, and thank you that it is to everyone that believeth, Lord. Lord, we know that for those who do not believe in Jesus, there is absolutely no hope. The Bible says that they're without hope, they have no hope in there without God in the world. Lord, help us to preach the glorious Gospel of Christ unto them, that they might be saved. Please help this fraud, Pope Francis, to be exposed for the lying false prophet that he is, that people would stop following him and worshiping him and realize that he is a deceiver and a devil. In Jesus Name, we pray. Amen.
1Cor 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. 1Cor 11:4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. 1Cor 11:5 But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. 1Cor 11:6 For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. 1Cor 11:7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. 1Cor 11:8 For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. 1Cor 11:9 Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. 1Cor 11:10 For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. 1Cor 11:11 Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. 1Cor 11:12 For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God. 1Cor 11:13 Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? 1Cor 11:14 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? 1Cor 11:15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering. 1Cor 11:16 But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.
Some people have misinterpreted 1 Corinthians 11 and believe that it is commanding women to wear hats or "head-coverings" of some kind. In this chapter, God is dealing with gender roles and the authority that a man has over his wife. In verse 3, the authority that a man has over his wife is likened unto the authority that God has over a man. God is the "head" (authority figure) of the man, and the man is the "head" (authority figure) of the woman. This matches perfectly with what the Bible says in Ephesians 5:
Eph 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Eph 5:24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
As we continue in 1 Corinthians 11, verses 4-6 state:
1Cor 11:4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. 1Cor 11:5 But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. 1Cor 11:6 For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.
According to these verses women should have their heads "covered," and men should not. In fact, if a woman's head is not covered, that is just as bad as if she were "shorn" or "shaven." Notice that the Bible says that it is a "shame" for a woman to be shorn or shaven. We all know what "shaven" means, but what does the word "shorn" mean? The Bible uses the word "shorn" one other time in the New Testament:
Acts 18:18 And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow.
The vow that the Bible is referring to here is a Nazarite vow from the Old Testament. Notice what the Bible commands about the Nazarite vow in Numbers 6:
Num 6:5 All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.
Num 6:18 And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings.
Once again, the Bible is its own dictionary. Being "shorn" is another word for being "shaven." Paul having his head shaved with a razor is referred to as him being "shorn." Therefore God is saying that a woman being "uncovered" is just as shameful as her shaving her head completely bald as Paul did in Acts 18.
So, what is this "covering"?
1Cor 11:13 Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? 1Cor 11:14 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? 1Cor 11:15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.
According to verses 13-15, a woman is "uncovered" if she does not have "long hair." A woman is therefore commanded to have long hair, and a man is commanded not to have long hair.
Those who believe in women wearing external "head-coverings" or bonnets on their heads will argue that even though long hair is a covering (indefinite article), women still need to wear an additional covering or bonnet on their heads. This is easily disproved with the Bible. The same passage that tells women to be covered tells men not to be covered. Therefore, if this were talking about something other than long hair (i.e. a "head-covering" or bonnet), it would be a sin for a man to wear it while praying or prophesying. This is directly in contradiction with many Old Testament passages that command the Old Testament priests to wear bonnets and mitres while ministering in the priests office:
Exo 28:40 And for Aaron's sons thou shalt make coats, and thou shalt make for them girdles, and bonnets shalt thou make for them, for glory and for beauty. Exo 28:41 And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office.
Exo 29:9 And thou shalt gird them with girdles, Aaron and his sons, and put the bonnets on them: and the priest's office shall be theirs for a perpetual statute: and thou shalt consecrate Aaron and his sons.
Exo 39:27 And they made coats of fine linen of woven work for Aaron, and for his sons, Exo 39:28 And a mitre of fine linen, and goodly bonnets of fine linen, and linen breeches of fine twined linen,
Lev 8:13 And Moses brought Aaron's sons, and put coats upon them, and girded them with girdles, and put bonnets upon them; as the LORD commanded Moses.
Eze 44:17 And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within. Eze 44:18 They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat.
Notice that the priest's clothing consisted of coats, britches (pants), and bonnets. Why would God tell us that "nature itself" teaches us that a woman should wear a head-covering, and that men should not, when he commanded over and over again that the priests (who were men of course) were required to wear bonnets when they prayed and prophesied in the priests office! The covering referred to in 1 Corinthians 11 is long hair, as defined in the passage itself; it is not a bonnet or head-covering.
This is consistent with the Old Testament, which commanded the priests not to have long hair:
Eze 44:20 Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads.
They were commanded to be neither completely bald nor long-haired, but rather to "poll" (i.e. cut short the hair on) their heads.
Other proponents of "head-coverings" on women will say that if you "go back to the Greek," you'll see that the word for "covering" in verse 15 is different than the other words used for "covering" in the passage. Of course, they are not fluent in Greek, but because the words look a lot different, they assume that they must be talking about completely different things. However, there are many examples in our language of words that look completely different as different parts of speech, but that are actually the same. Here are a few examples:
- having faith (noun) means that you believe (verb). - being undressed (adjective) means you aren't wearing any clothes (noun). - doing something manually (adverb) means that you did it by hand (noun). - thing that are lunar (adjective) have to do with the moon (noun).
You see how identical words can look completely different as different parts of speech. Therefore a woman can be uncovered (adjective - ακατακαλυπτω) because she is not wearing a covering (noun - περιβολαιου). Just because the words look the same in English does not mean that they will look the same in Greek. Apparently these head-covering advocates who couldn't even order a meal in a Greek restaurant think they know more than the KJV translators. This is why one should always beware when anyone has to "go back to the Greek" to prove their doctrine.
Now that we understand what "covering" is referring to in 1 Corinthians 11 (i.e. long hair), let's go back and look at the passage with this definition in mind:
1Cor 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. 1Cor 11:4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered (i.e. having long hair), dishonoureth his head (i.e. dishonours Jesus Christ - see previous verse). 1Cor 11:5 But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered (i.e. with short hair) dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. (i.e. if a woman doesn't have long hair, she might as well be bald!) 1Cor 11:6 For if the woman be not covered (i.e. she has short hair), let her also be shorn : but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.(i.e. in God's eyes, it is just as much of a shame for a woman to have short hair, as it is for her to be completely shaved bald).
You may say, "Okay, Pastor Anderson, I get it. Women do not have to wear head-coverings, but they do have to have long hair. But can't they wear head-coverings if they want to? Why are you against head-coverings?"
I am against head-coverings on women for two reasons:
1. I am against head-coverings because they associate you with the wrong crowd spiritually. Every church or pastor I have ever seen or known that taught that women were commanded to wear head-coverings was wrong on the Gospel. I have never seen or heard of a church that taught that women must wear head-coverings that believed that salvation was by faith alone. The churches and teachers promoting head-coverings on women teach a works-based salvation in one of the following forms:
- some teach you can lose your salvation - some teach you must repent of your sins in order to be saved - some teach you must surrender your life to Christ in order to be saved - some teach Calvinist doctrines of "grace" which teach that if you don't have works, you aren't saved, and that God is the one who chooses who will be saved and who will be damned (TULIP).
The Bible on the other hand states that salvation is by faith alone:
Rom 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Rom 4:6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Rom 4:7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Rom 4:8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
I have never seen or heard of any church that preached Bible salvation that taught women to wear head-coverings. Therefore, wearing a head-covering will lump you in with unsaved false teachers such as the Amish, Pentecostals, etc.
Eph 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
1Thess 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.
2. I am against head-coverings because they are not modest apparel. Yes, you got that right, I said that they are not modest apparel:
1Tim 2:9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; 1Tim 2:10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.
The word "modest" in these verses is often misinterpreted to only mean "not revealing" or "not promiscuous." However, there is nothing revealing or promiscuous about broided hair, gold, or pearls. This passage is telling ladies not to dress in a way that draws attention to themselves. Their good works should be what stand out, not their appearance, clothing, hair, or jewelry. Instead of a "Christian uniform," it should be the good works of Christian ladies that stand out to the world.
Women who wear head-coverings or Amish-looking dresses are doing so in order to purposely look different and stand out. There are many beautiful and stylish dresses for women to wear that are very modest and and not revealing whatsoever, but that do not purposely draw attention and cry out, "Look at me! Look how 'modest' I am!" Purposely drawing attention to yourself is neither modesty nor humility!
If ladies who practice "head-covering" were truly just trying to obey scripture and not draw attention to themselves, then why not wear a "head-covering" something like this:
or this:
Instead, this is what you usually see:
or this:
Conclusion:
Ladies are commanded by the Bible to have long hair. They are not commanded to wear an external head covering of any kind. If they do wear one, people will probably associate them with religions that preach a false Gospel.
“The Day of the Lord” is an important phrase in the Bible referring to the coming day when God will begin to pour out his wrath upon this earth. Whether in the Old or New Testament, scriptures dealing with the Day of the Lord are very consistent and upon comparison paint a very clear picture of this coming day of God’s wrath.
Isa 13:6Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
Isa 13:7Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:
Isa 13:8And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
Isa 13:9Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
Isa 13:10For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
Isa 13:11And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
Isa 13:12I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
Isa 13:13Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
Here are some elements found in this passage that will be seen repeated again and again in scriptures dealing with the Day of the Lord:
God’s wrath
Destruction upon the wicked
Sun, moon, and stars darkened
Heaven and earth shaken
Likened unto a woman being in travail (labor)
Joe 1:15Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
Joe 2:9They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.
Joe 2:10The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:
Joe 2:11And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
Joe 2:30And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
Joe 2:31The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
In these scriptures from the book of Joel, we find many of the same elements:
God’s wrath
Destruction upon the wicked
Sun, moon, and stars darkened
Heaven and earth shaken
Likened unto a thief
Clouds and darkness
Fire
Amo 5:18Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
Amo 5:19As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.
Amo 5:20Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
In Amos’ description, we see again:
Destruction upon the wicked
Total darkness
Zep 1:14The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
Zep 1:15That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
Zep 1:16A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
Zep 1:17And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
Zep 1:18Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
In Zephaniah’s description, we see again:
God’s wrath
Destruction upon the wicked
Clouds and darkness
Mighty men crying bitterly
A trumpet
Fire
When we get into the New Testament, God is still making the same type of references to the Day of the Lord:
Act 2:19And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
Act 2:20The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
Act 2:21And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
In Acts 2, Joel 2 is being quoted, and again we see:
Destruction upon the unsaved
Sun and moon darkened
Clouds and darkness
Fire
1Th 5:1But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
1Th 5:2For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
1Th 5:3For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
1Th 5:4But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
1Th 5:5Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
1Th 5:6Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
1Th 5:7For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
1Th 5:8But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
1Th 5:9For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
Once again, the same elements are associated with the Day of the Lord:
God’s wrath
Destruction upon the unsaved
Darkness
Likened unto a woman in travail (labor)
Likened unto a thief
2Pe 3:10But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Likened unto a thief
Heavens pass away with a great noise
Fire
Now that we have seen all three explicit references to the phrase “the Day of the Lord” in the New Testament, we need to put 1 Thessalonians 5 in its proper context. 1 Thessalonians 5 begins with the conjunction “but” and is a continuation of the thought begun in chapter 4.
1Th 4:13But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
1Th 4:14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1Th 4:15For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
1Th 4:16For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
This, of course, is the clearest, most famous passage in the Bible concerning the rapture. However, many stop reading there instead of going on to chapter 5 and getting the rest of the story.
1Th 5:1But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
1Th 5:2For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
What is he referring to when he says, “the times and seasons”? He is referring to the times and seasons of what he just told us about in chapter 4 – the rapture. The church at Thessalonica had no need for Paul to write unto them of the times and seasons of the rapture because they already knew that the Day of the Lord is coming as a thief in the night. Therefore the timing of the Day of the Lord is the same as the timing of the rapture.
1Th 5:3For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
1Th 5:4But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
1Th 5:5Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
1Th 5:6Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
1Th 5:7For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
1Th 5:8But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
1Th 5:9For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
1 Thessalonians 5:9 is referring back to the rapture discussed in 1 Thessalonians 4 and helps tie the entire passage together. Believers will be caught up in the rapture the same day as God pours out his wrath upon this earth. God’s wrath will be poured out upon the earth immediately after the rapture takes place. This is exactly what Jesus taught in Luke 17:
Luk 17:26And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
Luk 17:27They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
Luk 17:28Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
Luk 17:29But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
Luk 17:30Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
Luk 17:31In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.
Luk 17:32Remember Lot's wife.
Luk 17:33Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
Luk 17:34I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
Luk 17:35Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Luk 17:36Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Luk 17:37And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.
Here Jesus is comparing the day when the Son of man is revealed to the days of the flood. Just as it began to rain the same day that Noah entered into the ark, God’s judgment will come on the same day we are taken out of this world via the rapture. Likewise, just as fire rained on Sodomthe same dayLot was taken out by the two angels, God’s fiery judgment will be poured out on the same day we are taken out of this world by the rapture. That day is known as “the Day of the Lord.” Luke 17 is 100% consistent with 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5.
Now let’s look at another classic “Day of the Lord” passage from the New Testament.
Rev 6:12And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
Rev 6:13And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
Rev 6:14And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Rev 6:15And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
Rev 6:16And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
Rev 6:17For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
Here we see another clear reference to the day of the Lord, and all the key elements are there.
God’s wrath
Destruction upon the unsaved
Sun, moon, and stars darkened
The heavens rolled back
Earthquake
It is important to note that here the King James Bible states that the day of his wrath “is come.” Modern Bible versions have changed this to say “has come” and have thereby slightly altered the meaning. The phrase “is come” is clearly letting us know that the day of God’s wrath had not come at a previous time but had just arrived at this instant. The Day of the Lord is again marked by the sun, moon, and stars being darkened, just as it is over and over again throughout the Old and New Testaments. Thus it is undeniable by anyone that the great day of the Lord’s wrath occurs directly after the sixth seal is opened in Revelation 6 and not sooner.
Next we see the following statements opening chapter 7:
Rev 7:1And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
Rev 7:2And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
Rev 7:3Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
It is clear from these verses that up to this point, God has not begun to damage the earth, the trees, or the sea. God’s wrath is about to be poured out in the form of hail and fire mingled with blood that will burn up a third part of the trees and all the green grass. However, the rapture must first take place before he begins to rain fire upon the earth and pour out his wrath. Directly after this pronouncement and before God begins to pour out his wrath in Revelation 8, an innumerable multitude appears in heaven:
Rev 7:9After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
Rev 7:13And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
Rev 7:14And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Rev 7:15Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
Rev 7:16They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
Rev 7:17For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
Now that all believers have been removed he can begin to pour out his wrath the same day.
Rev 8:1And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
Rev 8:2And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
Rev 8:3And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
Rev 8:4And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.
Rev 8:5And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
Rev 8:6And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
Rev 8:7The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
Now let’s look at the clearest passage of all, Matthew 24, in which Jesus clearly lays out the timeline of the rapture in relationship with the Day of the Lord in perfect harmony with 1 Thessalonians 4 & 5 and Luke 17:
Mat 24:29Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Mat 24:30And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Mat 24:31And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Here we see that the Day of the Lord and the rapture (which take place on the same day) occur immediately after the tribulation. Therefore the “tribulation” is not God pouring out his wrath since the great day of his wrath does not come until after the tribulation!
Let’s keep reading in Matthew 24:
Mat 24:32Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
Mat 24:33So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
Mat 24:36But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
Mat 24:37But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:38For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
Mat 24:39And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:40Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Mat 24:41Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Mat 24:42Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
Many people will refer to the fact that “no man knoweth the day nor the hour” of Christ’s coming at the rapture which is referred to in verses 36 and 42. They are right to do so. However, they conveniently ignore the statement in verse 29 that this day will come after the tribulation and teach that Christ could come “at any moment” even thought the tribulation has not yet taken place.
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