No Child of God Left Behind

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Short Summary
The discourse traces the origins and development of end-time teachings, focusing on Charles Taze Russell’s renewed faith and understanding of God’s plan to gather all humanity into Christ’s kingdom. It critiques popular ideas like the secret pre-tribulation rapture, explaining that biblical texts often cited to support it are misinterpreted, and emphasizes that God’s plan includes salvation and resurrection for all people, with no child of God left behind. Ultimately, it highlights the hope of universal restoration through Christ’s sacrifice and the fulfillment of God’s purpose for all creation.

Long Summary
Detailed Summary of the Discourse on the Gathering of the Last Members of the Church and All Humanity

Introduction and Theme
– The discourse centers on the gathering of the last members of the church and ultimately all humanity into God’s kingdom.
– It emphasizes that no child of God will be left behind, highlighting God’s inclusive plan for salvation.

Charles Taze Russell’s Early Life and Spiritual Crisis
– Born in 1852 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, to a Presbyterian Christian family.
– At age 16 (1868), he experienced a faith crisis questioning how a loving God could predestine millions to eternal torment and doubted the Bible’s divine inspiration.
– His search included investigating other religions but found none satisfactory.

Encounter with Adventism and Renewed Faith (1870)
– Attended a meeting led by Jonas Wendell, a second Adventist preacher, in a small hall in Allegheny.
– Although Wendell’s exposition was imperfect, it helped restore Russell’s faith in the Bible’s inspiration and the unity of the apostles’ and prophets’ records.
– Wendell predicted Christ’s return in 1873 but died unexpectedly after an accident.
– Russell began regular Bible studies with Adventists like Nelson Barber and John Payton, developing a belief in Christ’s kingdom on earth for all mankind, not just a heavenly reward.

Focus on End Times and God’s Plan
– Russell and his associates emphasized the end times and Christ’s kingdom establishment on earth.
– They understood God’s plan as a rescue mission for humanity from sin and death, involving faithful disciples during the gospel age.
– The discourse reads and explains Ephesians 1:3-12 (Today’s English Version), highlighting:
– Spiritual blessings through union with Christ.
– Election by God before creation to be holy and blameless.
– God’s purpose to adopt believers as sons through Jesus Christ.
– The secret plan to unite all things in heaven and on earth under Christ as head.

Purpose of Sin and Evil Explained (Romans 8:18-21)
– Present sufferings are insignificant compared to future glory.
– Creation itself eagerly awaits freedom from corruption, a hope linked to the revealing of God’s children.

Jesus’ First Recorded Words (Mark 1:14-15)
– Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God is near and called for repentance and belief in the Gospel.
– The early church’s hope was centered on the kingdom of God, but this concept became distorted over time.

Historical Distortions and Teachings on the Kingdom
– The Roman Catholic Church claimed the millennial kingdom was fulfilled through its rule (799-1799 A.D.).
– Protestant reformers identified the papacy as the Antichrist.
– Francisco Ribera, a Spanish Jesuit priest, wrote a commentary (published 1590) proposing:
– Early chapters of Revelation referred to pagan Rome; the rest to a future 3½ year tribulation.
– Antichrist as a future individual who would persecute saints, rebuild the temple, and deceive the world.
– Separation of Daniel’s 70th week prophecy, inserting a gap before the last week.

The Origin of the Rapture Doctrine
– The “secret pre-tribulation rapture” theory emerged mainly in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
– John Nelson Darby, a Plymouth Brethren leader, popularized this view combining Ribera’s gap theory with a secret rapture.
– The Scofield Reference Bible (1917) and Clarence Larkin’s charts (1918) further popularized it in America.
– The term “rapture” is not found in the Bible; it derives from the Latin *raptus* meaning “to seize or snatch.”
– The idea of Christians suddenly disappearing before tribulation is a modern invention, not supported by early Christian teaching.

Modern Cultural Impact of the Rapture Concept
– Hal Lindsey’s 1970 book *The Late Great Planet Earth* revived interest in end-time prophecy.
– The 1972 movie *A Thief in the Night* dramatized the secret rapture with vivid imagery of sudden disappearances and chaos.
– The *Left Behind* book series (1995) by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins popularized these ideas further, spawning movies and sequels.
– A counter-series, *Alive Again* by Eugene Burns (2005), offers a biblical response against false rapture teachings.

Biblical Passages Commonly Cited for the Rapture
1 Thessalonians 4:13-17: Describes the Lord’s coming with a shout, trumpet, and the dead in Christ rising first, followed by living believers caught up together to meet the Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52: Talks about believers being changed “in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye” at the last trumpet.
Matthew 24:36-41: Jesus compares His coming to the days of Noah, mentioning two men in a field, one taken and one left.

Reexamination of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17
– The Lord’s descent is accompanied by a shout, archangel’s voice, and trumpet, but not necessarily that He does them—He is attended by these events (not a silent thief).
– The Greek preposition translated “with” (Gk. *en*) suggests “during” or “accompanied by,” not “performing.”
– The word “caught up” (Gk. *harpazo*) means to seize or snatch, the root of the rapture concept but originally just meaning being gathered.
– The phrase “caught up together” (Gk. *hamah*) can mean “in the same place,” not necessarily “at the same time.”
– Russell taught that believers are changed individually at different moments, not all at once, completing the number of the elect gradually.

Scriptures on the Gathering of the Church and Israel
Romans 11:25: Partial hardening of Israel until the full number of Gentiles comes in.
Matthew 24:31: Angels gather the elect with a loud trumpet call from all corners of heaven.
Revelation 14:13: Blessing for those who die in the Lord, resting from their labor.
Daniel 12:1: Michael the great prince arises to rescue those written in the book during unprecedented distress.
Romans 11:26: All Israel will be saved.

God’s Universal Plan of Salvation
1 Timothy 2:3-6: God desires all men to be saved through the one Mediator, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself as a ransom for all.
Romans 5:18-19: Justification and life come to all men through the obedience of Christ, paralleling how sin and death came through Adam.
1 Corinthians 15:20, 23: Christ is the first fruits of the resurrection; all will be made alive, each in their own order.
– Russell explains that “those who are Christ’s” includes the entire human family, who will be regenerated as the children of the bride and bridegroom.

Assurance That No One Will Be Left Behind
– God’s atonement and plan ensure everyone will be given the opportunity for life and righteousness.
1 Timothy 4:10: God is the Savior of all men, especially believers.
1 John 2:1-2: Jesus is the atoning sacrifice not only for believers but also for the sins of the whole world.
Ephesians 1:9-10: God’s purpose is to unite all things in heaven and on earth under Christ’s headship.
John 3:16-17: God’s love and sending of the Son is to save the world, not condemn it.

Conclusion
– The discourse praises God and Jesus Christ for their wonderful plan for all humanity.
– It rejects secret rapture and exclusivist interpretations, emphasizing a gradual gathering and salvation of all who respond to God’s grace.

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Key Bible Verses Quoted or Referenced
– Ephesians 1:3-12 (TEV)
– Romans 8:18-21
– Mark 1:14-15
– Romans 11:25, 26
– Matthew 24:31
– Revelation 14:13
– Daniel 12:1
– 1 Timothy 2:3-6, 4:10
– Romans 5:18-19
– 1 Corinthians 15:20, 23; 15:51-52
– 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17
– Matthew 24:36-41
– 1 John 2:1-2
– John 3:16-17

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This detailed summary covers the historical background, doctrinal analysis, biblical interpretation, and theological conclusions presented in the discourse, integrating direct scripture references for clarity and authority.

Transcript

We want to consider brethren the gathering of the last members of the church and more than that of all humanity. No child of God will be left behind.

Born in 1952 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, Charles Taze Russell was brought up in a Christian home, the Presbyterian persuasion. In 1868, at the age of 16, he experienced a crisis in his faith. He questioned how a loving God could send actually predestined millions of his human creation to an eternity of conscious burning torture. He questioned whether the Bible was the inspired word of God, and he investigated other religions, but found them equally unsatisfying in his searching.

In 1870 he was drawn to drop in on a religious service being held in what he described as a dusty dingy hall in Allegheny to see if the handful who met there had anything more sensible to offer than than the creeds of the great churches.

The preacher was a second Adventist, Jonas Wendell. Of that first encounter with Adventism, Brother Russell wrote, though his scripture exposition was not entirely clear, it was sufficient under God to re establish my wavering faith in the divine inspiration of the Bible and to show that the records of the apostles and prophets were indissolubly linked. What I heard sent me to my Bible to study with more zeal and care than ever before, and I shall ever thank the Lord for his leading. In that year, 1870, Mr. Wendell published a booklet entitled Present Truth or Meet in Due Season.

He asserted that Christ would return in 1873. But on August 7th of that year, Mr. Wendell fell head first down a flight of stairs and suffered serious internal injuries, but believed he had only suffered serious bruising. He preached on August 13, but the next day at a church picnic he fell over backwards and died.

With his faith re energized, Brother Russell regularly met for Bible study with others. His early associates included other Adventists such as Nelson Barber of Rochester, New York and John Payton of Almont, Michigan. Through their studies and their fellowship, they were convinced they were living at the threshold of the fulfillment of all that God had promised. They saw a wider purpose to the return of Christ than mainline churches. They came to understand that Christ returns to bless all mankind in a kingdom here on earth.

It is not surprising then that Brother Russell’s message and ministry were focused on end time events and the establishment of Christ’s kingdom. They came to understand that God has a plan for rescuing humanity from sin and death and that the faithful disciples of Jesus during the gospel age would have a special role in that work. This wonderful plan to involve the disciples of Jesus is beautifully described in Ephesians 1:3 through 12, which we will read from today’s English version because of its repeated emphasis on God’s plan. His secret plan.

Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For in our union with Christ he has blessed us by giving us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly world. Even before the world was made, God had already chosen us to be his through our union with Christ so that we would be holy and without fault before Him. Because of his love, God had already decided that through Jesus Christ he would make us his sons. This was his pleasure and purpose.

Let us praise God for His glorious grace, for the free gift he gave us his dear Son. For by the sacrificial death of Christ we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven. How great is the grace of God which He gave us in such large measure.

In all his wisdom and insight God did what he had purposed and made known unto us. The secret plan he had already decided to complete by means of Christ. This plan, which God will complete when the time is right, is to bring all creation together, everything in heaven and on earth, with Christ as head. All things are done according to God’s plan and decision, and God chose us to be his own people in union with Christ because of his own purpose, based on what he had decided from the very beginning.

Let us then, who were the first to hope in Christ, praise God’s glory.

Another wonderful insight into God’s plan and what he has been doing since creation that Brother Russell and his associates came to understand is why God has permitted sin evil. This is laid out in Romans 8:18-21. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will also be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

This hopeful future was announced in the first words of Jesus that are recorded in the Book of Mark, Mark 1, 14 and 15. Now, after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Gospel of God and saying, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel.

The kingdom of God was the clear vision and hope of the early church. But over time that vision became distorted and lost in Christian teachings. The Roman Catholic Church eventually claimed that the thousand year millennial kingdom was fulfilled by their dominating religious and civil rule. From 799 to 1799 A.D. however, most of the Protestant reformers identified the papacy and its rule and as the fulfillment of the Antichrist taught in the Bible.

A Spanish Jesuit priest and doctor of theology named Francisco Ribera began writing a commentary on the Book of Revelation in 1585. He published it in 1590.

One of the objectives was to remove the Catholic Church from consideration of being the Antichrist, and in his commentary he proposed that the first few chapters of Revelation applied to ancient pagan Rome and the rest of Revelation applied to a yet future period of three and a half literal years immediately preceding the return of Christ. During that time, the Roman Catholic Church itself would fall away from the pope into apostasy.

Then Ribera proposed that Antichrist is a future individual who would persecute and blaspheme the saints of God, rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, abolish the Christian religion, deny Jesus Christ, pretend to be God, kill the two witnesses of Revelation 11 and conquer the world.

Ribera’s treatise is the origin of the teaching that the 70th week of Daniel 9 should be separated from the other 69 weeks and move forward to the end times. Because he correlated the divided 70th week with the 1260 days 3 and a half times and 42 months as being the 3 and a half years or last half week of Daniel 9, however, we understand that there is no scriptural basis found for doing this.

Did Francisco Ribera invent the Rapture that is so often associated with that interpretation of the end times and Daniel’s 70th week? That is the belief that there is a sudden disappearance of Christians from the earth prior to the final end times events. Probably it was not Francisco Ribera.

There is much debate about who first taught this idea, now commonly referred to as the Rapture. Some claim the Apostle Paul taught this because of how they interpret key passages of his letters, and we will examine those texts in a short while. Others say there is no evidence for this understanding in early Christianity and that it arose no earlier than the 1700s. The word rapture first appears in John Gill’s Commentary on the New Testament, published in 1748.

Here are several statements about the origin of the Rapture theory that I have excerpted from various sources. One of the more astonishing facts in the history of eschatological thought, and one that most Christians are unaware of, is that the idea of a secret pre tribulation rapture removal from the earth of the Church is a fairly recent theory in church history. According to most researchers, the idea of a rapture removal from planet Earth prior to a great tribulation period began to surface in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Most scholars, however, agree that the secret Rapture theory was launched into prominence around 1830 by a group of people in Scotland who had become known as as the Plymouth Brethren. One of their influential leaders was a man named John Nelson Darby.

Darby coupled the idea of a secret rapture, a secret pre tribulation rapture, with another idea originated by Francisco Ribera, the idea of interrupting Daniel’s 70 weeks prophecy and inserting a gap between the 69th and 70th weeks. He then introduced this now fully developed pre tribulation rapture view in Europe and later in America. It was popularized in America by inclusion in the notes of the Scofield reference Bible in 1917 and by elaborate end times event charts published in Clarence Larkin’s dispensational truth in 1918.

Well, where did this term rapture come from? The word is not found in the Scriptures. The Merriam Webster Dictionary gives three definitions of the word rapture. First, an expression or manifestation of ecstasy or passion. Second, a state or experience of being carried away by overwhelming emotion.

And this meaning has expression in our hymn 281, a face to face when with rapture I behold him.

And thirdly, third definition is the final assumption of Christians into heaven during the end times according to Christian theology.

I’m glad they didn’t say biblical theology because it’s not there.

Rapture is derived from apologies. Rapture is derived from the Latin word raptus, which means to seize or to snatch. That is why we call birds that swoop down and snatch their prey raptors, like eagles and hawks. We will see in a few minutes where this idea has been read or misread into the Scriptures.

In 1970, Hal Lindsey published his book the Late Great Planet Earth and it stirred a resurgence of interest in end time theology.

In 1972, a movie entitled A Thief in the Night was produced and circulated widely through American Protestant churches. I saw it at the United Methodist Church that I used to attend.

Believers disappear en masse, leaving behind bewildering, unbelieving spouses, parents, co workers, etc. Driverless cars crash. A husband’s electric shaver is in the bathroom sink still running, but he’s not there. A little girl’s ice cream cone is left melting on the sidewalk. The theme song I Wish We’d All Been Ready is designed to prod viewers to give their life to Jesus and Here’s the theme song from the movie.

Life was filled with guns and war and everyone got trampled on the floor I wish we’d all been ready Children died, the days grew cold A piece of bread would buy a bag of gold I wish we’d all been ready there’s no time to change your mind the sun has come and you’ve been left behind.

I’ll stop with that portion in 1995, Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins published a book entitled Left Behind. It expanded on the theme of Hal Lindsay’s book and the Thief in the Night movie. It was very popular in Christian circles. Although published as a novel, the imagery in the book was assimilated into the minds of many Christians. In 2000 it was made into a movie and based on the success of the Left behind book, LaHaye and Jenkins wrote and published 15 more books in the series.

A better message is presented in a five book series known by the title of the first book in the series, Alive Again, published in 2005. It has a better message because these books were written by a Bible student, Brother Eugene Burns, and he wrote these books as an answer to the false teachings of the Left behind series.

However, the Left behind books and movie had a huge impact on the Christian community and many websites were created promoting the Rapture and the end of the world. There are also anti rapture websites created to push back on that false teaching.

So on what Biblical passages do those who believe in the Rapture base their belief? Primarily one, but perhaps a couple of others. Primarily 1st Thessalonians 4:13 to 17 but we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

Another scripture that is used in support of the rapture theory is First Corinthians 15:51 and 52. Listen, I tell you in a mystery we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and, and we will be changed.

And perhaps the third scripture that is utilized in support of this is Matthew 24:36 to 41. But of that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them away.

So will the coming or parousia of the Son of Man be. Then there will be two men in the field. One will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill. One will be taken and the other left.

To understand what the Apostle Paul is really saying in First Thessalonians 4, we need to dig into the original Greek language. Let’s begin with verse 16 that says the Lord will descend with a shout, the voice of an archangel, the trumpet of God. But let’s ask an important question. Is Christ the one shouting? Is he speaking with the voice of an archangel?

Is he blowing the trumpet? If he is, how could he be a thief in the night? How many thieves announce their arrival that way?

The key is understanding the Greek preposition N which is translated with in this verse. The notes in the Companion Bible state N denotes being or remaining within. It denotes continuance in time, and it is better understood in this verse, especially if we use the English word during. The Lord descends during a shout, during a voice of an archangel, and during the trumpet call of God.

The meaning is that Jesus return is accompanied by these things, not that he is doing them. Barnes notes on the New Testament agree with this understanding. It says it does not mean here that the Lord Himself will make such a shout, but that he would be attended with it, that is, with a multitude who would lift up the voice like that of an army rushing to a conflict.

Let’s look at verse 17. We who are alive and remain. The Greek word translated remain means to leave all around or survive, and according to Strong’s lexicon, according to and Vine’s dictionary presents a similar definition. To leave over.

Shall be caught up. The Greek word translated caught up is harpazo and means to seize or snatch away. It is from this Greek word an idea that the term rapture is derived based on a Latin word rather than the Greek word, And caught up together. The idea of get together Promoters of the Rapture theory interpret together to mean at the same time and teach that there will be a mass disappearance of faithful Christians from the earth in one moment. However, the Greek word translated together, hamah can mean at the same time or at the same place.

According to Strong’s lexicon, it can denote close association.

Additionally, we have Strong support that it can mean in the same place as from the United Bible Society’s Translator Handbook, which says the words translated along with in today’s English version may however also mean in the same place as and this may be the most natural basis for translation here, for example, we will all be gathered up to be with them to meet the Lord in the air.

Brother Russell taught that this is the correct understanding, as in this quotation from reprint 3905. Thank God that the time is not far distant when those who sleep in Jesus having been changed to his image, we who are alive and remain will also be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye, to be made like him, to see him as he is, to share his glory. Not all at the same moment, but each in his own moment changed instantly, until gradually thus being changed by passing from death to life, the full number of the very elect shall be completed, and the reign of glory shall begin.

We have many scriptures that talk about the gathering of the church, such as Romans 11:25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited. Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in and Matthew 24:31 and he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call. See, there’s the trumpet call, same as in Thessalonians, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other and Revelation 14:13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, blessed, right? Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.

Yes, says the Spirit, they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.

We also have scriptures talking about the gathering of Israel, such as Daniel 12:1. Now at that time Michael the great prince, who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise, and there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time, and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued, and Romans 11:26 tells us that all Israel will be saved.

And thanks be to God that he has opened to our understanding that the Scriptures testify that all people will be gathered into his kingdom. First Timothy 2:3-6.

This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all the testimony given at the proper time, and Romans 5:18,19. Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man, the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man, the many, that is all will be made righteous, and finally 1 Corinthians 15:20, 23 but now Christ has been raised from the dead the first fruits of those who are asleep.

For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive, but each in his own order. Christ the first fruits after that those who are Christ’s at his coming or parresia and brother Russell explains on reprint 5965 that those who are Christ’s includes the entire human family. All of the restored world will belong to the general family of Christ Jesus. The bridegroom and the church’s bride will have the regenerated family as their children.

On the earthly plane, Are there any of God’s human creation that will be left behind? No. We have scriptures that assure us that Christ’s atoning sacrifice will bring life to all humanity and they will have the opportunity to learn righteousness and gain eternal life.

First Timothy 4:10 we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.

First John 2:1 and 2 Jesus Christ, the righteous one. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours, only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world, and finally Ephesians 1:9,10 and he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times will have reached their future fulfillment, to bring all things in heaven and earth, on earth, together under one head, even Christ, No child of God will be left behind. John 3, 16 and 17 says, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.

May God and His Son, Jesus Christ be praised for their wonderful plan for all of humanity. Amen.

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