“The Secret Rapture False Teaching”

By Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
“I have said that the teaching about the secret rapture did not appear before 1830. We have, in fact, an authoritative statement as to how it began.

There was a New Testament scholar called Tregelles, who belonged to the so-called Plymouth Brethren. In 1830 and subsequently he was present at the Powerscourt Conferences which were attended by J.N. Darby and B.W. Newton, and others belonging to that school.

This is what Tregelles says: 'I was not aware that there was any definite teaching that there should be a secret rapture of the Church at a secret coming until this was given forth as an utterance in Mr. Edward Irving's church, from what was then received as being the voice of the Spirit - it was from that supposed 'revelation' that the modern doctrine arose.'

The teaching of the secret rapture of the Church at the coming of our Lord was first taught as the result of a prophetic utterance in Edward Irving's church.
It originated as an Utterance in Tongues, interpreted by somebody, and, indeed, Tregelles emphasized this by saying that this teaching was a 'revelation'.

As I understand the New Testament, we should always be suspicious of a teaching that is based upon some supposed 'revelation'.

According to Tregelles, the teaching with regard to the preliminary rapture of the saints, which first came in as a prophetic utterance, was accepted by certain people present at the 1830 conference, including J.N. Darby.

But it was not accepted by B.W. Newton, nor by George Mueller, and there was a division even among that circle.

Only J.N Darby and certain of his followers accepted it.

D.L. Moody, the evangelist, adopted J.N. Darby's teaching and because Moody was such a well-known man as a result of his evangelistic campaigns, it was popularized immediately.

The formation of the Moody Bible Institute popularized it still more and the publication of the Scofield Bible was possibly most influential of all in spreading this 'new revelation' teaching.

That, then, is the teaching about this Preliminary Rapture and the friends who believe this claim that there are certain scriptures which prove it.

So let us look first at 2 Thessalonians 2:8: 'And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming' - or, 'the epiphany of His parousia' or, 'the manifestation of His coming'. There is, it is claimed, a distinction between His 'coming' and the 'manifestation of His coming'.

But this is surely answered by 2 Thessalonians 1: 9-10 where the destruction of the sinners and the glorification of the saints occur together.

Furthermore, 2 Thessalonians 2:1 identifies the parousia with the coming of the Lord.
With regard to Matthew 24:40-41 which reads, 'Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left', the whole setting is that of judgment and in the context is comparable to the flood.

This verse therefore means that at the final judgment there will be a separation.
Finally, in John 5:28-29 our Lord says, 'Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in which ALL that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation'; while in John 6:39-40 He refers to 'the last day'.

So, the clear teaching of Scripture is that there is Only One Coming, not two; nor are there two stages. There is NO 'Secret' Rapture, and No coming of our Lord at any moment. Certain things must happen first, as we have seen.

The Scripture declares plainly that the Lord Jesus will NOT come until the Apostacy shall have taken place, the Man of Sin, the son of perdition shall have been revealed as in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5.

Many other portions also of the Word of God distinctly teach that certain events are to be fulfilled before the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because His appearing is our blessed hope to which we look forward, let us purify ourselves now, seeking to live as children of the light, and obviously different from the children of night and of darkness."
- “Great Doctrines of the Bible” by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones