[Ed note: This
closing article in brother Leland’s ministry was
inspired by questions posed to him by one identified
as a “Canadian reader.” I was that reader.
After having written brother Earls my questions
regarding the apparent contradiction between his
teachings and Paul’s statements on the rapture, and
before brother Leland published this response, the
Lord actually provided me with other answers that
reconciled the seeming contradiction as well. I will
share those answers as a post script to this
article. CBA ]
"This is the revelation of Jesus Christ—His
unveiling of the divine mysteries. God gave it to Him to
disclose end make known to His bond servants certain
things which must shortly come to pass in their
entirety. And He sent and communicated it through His
angel (messenger) to his bond servant John, who has
testified to and vouched for all that he saw (in his
visions), the Word of God and testimony of Jesus
Christ... I (John) was in the Spirit—rapt in His
power—on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a great
voice like the calling of a war trumpet, saying, I am
the Alpha and the Omega, the FIRST AND THE LAST. Write
promptly what you see (your vision) in a book and send
it to the seven churches which are in
Asia." (Rev. 1:1-2, 10-11 Amplified
Version).
Please prayerfully read and meditate on the
above words. It is important to understand that the
book of Revelation contains "divine mysteries" which had
not been previously unveiled - either by Jesus Himself,
or anyone else. Furthermore, to make the matter
emphatic, the glorified Christ characterizes Himself in
this final revelation as the "Alpha and the Omega, the
FIRST and the LAST." (Rev. 1:11). “Alpha” is the first
letter in the Greek alphabet and "Omega" is the last.
Letters make up syllables and words. Words communicate
ideas. Thus Jesus was emphatically declaring that He alone
(as THE WORD - John 1:1, 11; Rev. 19:11) has the first
and the last "word" on matters of Divine Revelation.
Why is this so important? Because so many Bible
students seek to find in the epistles of Paul, Peter.
John, etc. the "final word" on various aspects of
Christian truth. Certainly the apostles have made a
contribution to our understanding. But only in the words
of Jesus in the Gospels and the book of Revelation do we
have the FIRST and LAST authoritative "word" on all
spiritual truth. And all the revelations of Jesus are
FOUNDED in that which the mighty Yahweh-Spirit had made
known to Moses and the other prophets in the Old
Testament. "To the law (Moses) and to the testimony (of
the other prophets)! If they do not speak according to
this word, it is because there is no light in them."
(Is. 8:20).
[Does Paul Contradict the Teachings of a
Two-Stage Translation?]
In order to illustrate this principle, I will
now deal with a couple of questions submitted by a
Canadian reader regarding apparent contradictions
between statements made by the apostle Paul, and that
which is founded in the revelation of Jesus Christ,
concerning end-time truths. The questions are as
follows:
1. Paul says in I Cor. 15:15 that "we shall all
be changed" at the time of translation. This appears to
contradict the word in your book “Let My People Go
" that only those who have attained the proper
maturity by the end of the tribulation shall be changed
while the rest remain on earth to enter the earth-based
Kingdom. What is your solution for this?
2. Paul indicates in I Thess. 4:15 that the
translation of the living ones does not precede the
resurrection of the dead. Despite the abundance of
evidence to scripturally support otherwise the taking of
a "first fruits sheaf” before the tribulation, how do
you reconcile the apparent contradiction?
First, I will go to the heart of the matter and
answer briefly the above questions. Secondly, since
Paul's statements quoted in the above questions deal
with climactic events to take place at the close of this
age, I will go into the Scriptural pattern for the
"harvest" and show how Paul's statements fit into this
pattern. Third and finally, I will seek to probe
somewhat deeper into Paul's understanding and draw out
some points which perhaps you had not noticed before.
[The Incompleteness of Paul’s End Time
Teaching]
First, Paul was honest enough to admit that he
understood only "in part," and as "in a mirror, dimly"
(I Cor. 13:12), Therefore it is impossible to build a
pattern of end-time events on the writings of Paul
alone. Read again what I have already written in the
first part of this article. I repeat, there is only ONE
who has the "first word" and "last word" on all divinely
revealed truth: Jesus Christ. Whatever was revealed to
Spirit-tutored men such as Peter, Paul, etc., was but
partial and incomplete; only "pieces" of the
over-all puzzle and will not be contradictory if fitted
into the proper place.
I point out in my "Three
Comings of Jesus " booklet that even
Jesus' words in the gospels do not give a complete
picture of end-time events. For example, in John 5:29,
Jesus speaks of the resurrection of some unto life, and
others unto judgment. Based on that statement, we might
conclude that both resurrections would take place at the
same time, but according to Rev. 20:4-6 there is more
than one resurrection, separated by at least a thousand
years. To give additional revelation that had not been
given before was the very purpose of Jesus sending a
special messenger to John on the isle of Patmos (Rev.
1:1). If Paul was given the "last word" on end-time
prophetic events, why would John receive
additional details from a special messenger long after
Paul's ministry was over (ponder that much until its
truth has sunk deeply into your consciousness). As to
Paul saying in I Cor. 15:15, that "we all" shall be
changed, we must understand that there are different
categories of Christians. I will seek to show as we proceed that
we need to understand WHO Paul is including when he uses
such pronouns as "we" "our" and "us."