After the Rapture, will it be possible for those who have heard the gospel, but not believed, to believe the gospel that will be preached at that time?
I know of no Scripture that would support the view that people who have heard the gospel before the event of the Rapture will have a further opportunity to get saved after the Rapture. It brings in the theory that those who have heard the gospel and rejected it will have a second chance to believe. The doctrine of a second chance is not founded on the Word of God. In fact there are helpful verses in 2 Thessalonians 1 and 2 that would lead us to see otherwise.
Paul, speaking of the Second Advent of Christ and its purpose says that the Lord will come "In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thess 1.7-8). Two groups are to be seen here. The first embraces all Gentiles. The second refers to both Jews and Gentiles who have rejected the message of the gospel. We submit that those who obeyed not the gospel are those who lived before the Rapture. If people definitely refuse the message of the gospel before the Rapture they will have no mercy and will perish. No hope is held out here for gospel-rejecters.
Thus, no second chance after the coming of the Lord for His people is hinted at. The solemn statement is that "for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie" and "That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness" (2 Thess 2.11-12). Without a doubt many people who heard the gospel in the age of grace will after the Rapture remain alive. These will be dealt with by the Lord. This is an exceedingly solemn truth and fact which those who have heard the gospel should seriously consider. Children of believing parents especially should make the salvation of their souls their big priority, because the Rapture will seal the doom of every one without Christ.
John J Stubbs
In the passage in Matthew 18.15-17, do we assume that the offender and the offended are in the same assembly? What is the position if they are not?
It should be noted that the passage in question is not initially dealing directly with assembly procedure at all, but with the attitude of an individual believer towards one who has trespassed against him. The individual concerned is to tell the offending brother (who is not necessarily in the same assembly) his fault, i.e. he is to rebuke or reprove him. If the guilty brother does not pay heed, the offended individual is to take one or two other believers with him in order that reconciliation may be accomplished. Competent testimony would then be afforded, since "at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established" (Deut 19.15).
It is at this stage that, if the offender "neglect to hear", the matter should be made known to the church; the sin is made public, the whole assembly is to be made aware of it.
Mention is made here of the church; this, of course, could refer to none other than a local assembly. However, it should be borne in mind that when the Lord Jesus spoke these words, no local churches had yet been established. Nevertheless, it is clear that a local assembly is the body responsible to hear such a case, not some civil court.
If the two brethren concerned, are not in the same assembly, then presumably the offended brother would have to make the matter known to the company with which he is in fellowship. It should be appreciated that at this time, prior to the commencement of New Testament assemblies, no precise directions are given. If a similar situation were to arise today, spiritual overseers would guide the assembly as to what steps should be taken.
One possible course of action would be for the elders of the assembly in which the offended brother is in fellowship to make contact with the overseers of the church with which the offending brother is associated and to discuss, with all the facts before them, how the matter can be best resolved.
David E West
