The Theory of All Truth by: Marshall Martin The prism, a God-revealed multifaceted transparent body that refracts visible light, producing different colors of the spectrum from each facet face, has long been a source of fascination. It has been broadly incorporated into light sources, art and jewelry. But, its philosophical importance is far greater than these mundane uses. Imagine a prism of a height and circumference such that one must walk around it in order to view its different faces. Observation of each prism face could elicit a very different response, since each surface could emit a different color of the visible light spectrum. Yet, each person, describing his/her particularly observed prism surface, would be telling the truth when revealing the prism face color.   Still, ALL TRUTH could not be ascertained from this one description. Even if one continued to walk around the prism and describe each separately colored face, ALL TRUTH would not be encompassed by the collective observations. Only an entity which could view the prism from above, as God views our lives, can observe ALL TRUTH – that is, the object’s totality of existence and significance in one total package. It is my opinion that most of the doctrinal confusion in the church world today results from a believer’s taking his/her own observed facet of truth and declaring that facet as THE TRUTH, without the advantage of having observed ALL TRUTH. But, since we cannot, as does God, instantly observe ALL TRUTH, (“For now we see through a glass, darkly.....Now I know in part.” 1 Cr. 13:12), the problem may seem to be insurmountable for human beings. As always, however, He has “made a way of escape” from even this dilemma by providing us mortals with instructions for improving our singular vision and the comprehension of what we do see. (“Where there is no counsel, the people fall, but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.” Pro 11:14 “Iron sharpens iron. So a man sharpens the countenance {face, presence, person} of his friend.” Pro 27:17) Each of us needs the other in order to be able to even approach the accumulation of ALL TRUTH. The “Rapture” Throughout church history, whenever congregants have discussed the “rapture”, timing arguments have, invariably, ensued. But, the common mantras: “pre-trib” (rapture takes place prior to the tribulation), “mid-trib” (rapture takes place in the middle of the tribulation), or “post-trib” (rapture takes place after the tribulation) lose their significance in the theory of ALL TRUTH. Is it possible that the “pre-trib”, “mid-trib” and “post-trib” theories are all true? Even though the word “rapture” is not found in Scripture, if a contemporaneous description of this catching away of the saints (evacuation, exodus or escape) is substituted, Christian concepts suffer no detriment. Indeed, it is in this contemporaneous setting, that the picture painted inside the theory of ALL TRUTH comes clearest, but all scripture relating to this event must be dealt with. “For 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,” I Th 4:16. “Then 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.” I Th 4:17, I Pe 1:13, Tts 2:13. “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, 'Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints.'” Jud 1:14. “When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of his glory” Mat 25:31. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also.” Jhn 14:3. “And to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels.” 2 Th 1:7. “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Mat 24:27. Since all scripture must be considered to be interrelated and always conceptually applicable, other passages must be dealt with, as well. “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” Psa 37:4. “And 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.” Mat 24:31. “And He said, Follow me. But the man said, 'Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.'” Luk 9:59. “But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.” Mat 8:22. “Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house.” Mat 24:17. “Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.” Mat 24:18. In firm belief of Psalms 37:4, the Lord will give me the desires of my heart -– IF I DELIGHT MYSELF IN HIM. The desire of all Christian hearts should be to live this life – a life with a desire so strong to be with Jesus that, on a split moment’s notice, one would deliberately choose to leave all behind and go to Him. A contemporaneous, secular depiction of such a choice is found in the words of a popular country song, sung by Sara Evans, “Now she's gone in the blink of an eye She left the suds in the bucket And the clothes hangin' out on the line.” But, for the Christian, meeting the criteria of Psalms 37:4, and having a compelling desire to go to Him, certainly qualifies one to be evacuated before the tribulation, and I believe that God will honor that heart’s desire. If, however, one’s heart has the desire to be included in the pre-trib rapture, and, while going about one’s daily activities, an angel of the Lord steps up and says, “Fear not. It’s time to go!”, (Matthew 24:31) that split-second decision must be made – a decision that can only be made by the heart. And if, because of the lack of delight in Him, the brain gets involved in the decision-making and, because of materialism (or other inordinate attachment to this earthly existence), begins to formulate delay tactics – “First, I must take care of that obligation.” “First, I must bury my father.” “First, I must pick up my children from school.” “First, I must protect my valuables.” “First I must.......”, then, I believe, the choice has been made to stay behind, and, by desire of the heart, agreement has been made to either a mid-trib exodus (to be martyred for one’s faith) or a post-trib escape. The Holy Ghost did not prompt scriptural writings because He needed more words to finish out a chapter. What is written, IS written and, with the participant’s agreement, certainly supports the truth in all three current theories of the “rapture”. THE LORD’S PRAYER The Perfecting of The Word “Our Father, which art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, In earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, And, forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And, lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and Glory, Forever . Amen” Mat. 6:9-13 Perhaps the most important line of The Lord’s Prayer is the first, for without it the rest would simply wander aimlessly in space. In order to pray with any hope of response, one must first know to whom one prays. This first line addresses the envelope into which the rest of the prayer is deposited and assures the pray-er of its safe delivery. Exploration of the compelling effects of the 4th and 5th lines, follows. “In the beginning, God created the Heaven and the earth.” Gen. 1:1 “And, God said, ‘Let there be Light,’ and there was Light.” Gen. 1:3 “And, God said, ‘ . . . ’ Gen 1:6 “And, God said, ‘ . . . ’ Gen. 1:9 “And, God said, ‘ . . . ’ Gen. 1:11 “And, God said, ‘ . . . ’ Gen 1:14 You get the idea. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.”... Jhn. 1:1-4 “The Word” (Jesus, God’s thought expressed) was the vehicle God used to effect the creation of the heaven and the earth. Before “The Church” – “the whole body of Christians, scattered throughout the earth.” (Blue Letter Bible) – came into existence, only God and His anointed prophets had the responsibility for speaking the Word – the creative, regenerative, protective Word – over the heaven and earth. But, the Lord (The Word, Jesus), coming to earth, gave to The Church the keys (the power and authority) of the Kingdom. “And I will give unto thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven; and, whatsoever thou shall bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven; and, whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven,” Mat. 16:19. “...Upon this rock (this premise) I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Mat. 16: 18 The keys of the kingdom, the power and authority of the kingdom, now belong to, and their usage is the responsibility of, The Church. God, through Jesus, gave us these keys, and He didn’t keep a spare set! With this proclamation, The Church became God’s mouthpiece on the earth – the sayers of His “Will in earth, even as it is in Heaven.” The Biblical admonition to “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thes. 5:17) has always held special intrigue. Why is so important for Christians to pray in this manner? Because Christians, the sayers of God’s Will in earth, must speak the Word – the creative, regenerative, protective Word previously spoken only by God and His anointed prophets – in order to effect God’s Will in earth! The prayer for God’s will to be done in earth, incorporating the pray-er’s willingness to accept God’s will, is prayer’s superior form, encompassing every other answerable prayer one could possibly pray. “ And, this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, we know that He heareth us; and, we know that, if He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.” 1 Jo 5:14-15 Surely, the number of these sayers is cumulative, and a larger number produces an even greater demand on God’s grace and mercy. “And, five of you shall chase an hundred and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword (The Word).” Lev 26:8. That being the case, just think how much Heavenly influence could be generated by 37 million voices praying for God’s will five days a week! Conversely, think what dearth of prayer the overnight loss of those voices would create! In 1963, the number of those 37 million sayers of the Will of God in earth WAS reduced in one day! They were silenced by the U.S. Supreme Court when it issued a ruling that abolished prayer in schools, and those voices continue in that suppressed expression state even today. The effects of that one act of subduction were seismically recorded from shore to shore. Only a few months after the silencing of God’s lambs, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated and succeeding President Lyndon Johnson, (in addition to escalating the Viet Nam conflict to a full-scale war in which more than 47,000 U. S. soldiers died -- the only war the U. S. has ever lost) appointed the deciding majority to the Court that permitted Roe v. Wade to stand as U. S. law. This one Supreme Court decision has, thus far, permitted more than 40 million to join the ranks of the silenced 37 million by prohibiting their birth and school attendance! Throughout the years following the abolishment of school prayer, a plethora of evils has befallen America. One needs only to observe the condition of the schools today to become convinced that the lack of prayer for the Will of God has caused much disarray. Schools must be built, controlled and operated as if prisons and have failed in their education mandates. Basic morality and respect for students and teachers are also sorely lacking in most of them. Teenaged pregnancies are rampant and violence is commonplace in many of these institutions. Only a return to The Lord’s Prayer by the millions who sojourn there will begin to solve the myriad problems now facing this system. But, all is not hopeless, for because of the last declaration in The Lord’s Prayer, “Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power and the Glory, forever” victory is assured. “Amen.” So be it!