Will UFOs Be Used to Explain Away the Rapture?

To answer this question, we invited Billy Crone, the senior pastor of Sunrise Baptist Church in Las Vegas, Nevada, and founder of Get A Life! Ministries, to our television program Christ in Prophecy. Billy covered a number of sensationalist Bible prophecy topics such as UFOs and the Nephilim.

Nathan Jones: Billy, when it comes to sensationalist Bible prophecy, often we’re talking about UFOs. You’ve done a lot of research into UFOs. Can you explain why you approach UFOs so often in your teachings?

Billy Crone: UFOs were part of my background when I was involved in the occult and New Age before I became saved. In the New Age, one of the big subjects is UFOs and the lie that is going on about them. Quite a lot of sensationalism and deception has been going on with that topic. It’s a topic that we the Church do need to get equipped on because the Scriptures, I believe, give us the answer.

Whether we accept it or not, our world is enthralled with the topic of UFOs and aliens. Right now, just looking at current statistics in the United States of America, more people believe in the existence of UFOs and aliens than they do in the existence of God. More people in the United States of America believe that aliens have visited planet Earth than Jesus is the Son of God.

So many people are obsessed with UFO-ology, because Hollywood has been promoting it. The lie of Evolution sets the foundation for this study. UFO-ology has become the new religion of the 21st Century in our own country. Its adherents believe that aliens are going to save them, not God.

We need to deal with this new religion because our world is being led astray. Plus, the Scriptures say we are to give a defense for the hope that lies within us.

From a biblical perspective, number one, you know that there is something deceptive going on because the very nature and the whole premise of UFOs is built on a lie. It is called the lie of Evolution. When these aliens are supposedly going to show up, they’re expected to say, “We’re a higher, evolved race.”

Stop right there! Evolved? Wait a second. Evolved equals Evolution. Well, Evolution is not true. We were created by God! We didn’t come from the goo, to the zoo, to me and you. No, we came from God, right?

But, the whole alien premise, their whole identity when they supposedly show up on the scene, is a lie. Now, go back to the Scriptures. In John 8, what does Jesus say? “Satan is not only a murderer, and he’s been one since the beginning, he’s a liar, and he’s the father of all lies.” The alien’s claim to evolutionary superiority tells you right out of the gate that you are being deceived.

The other lie aliens are supposed to make, too, is they’ll claim, “We are here to give you some incredible messages, and we’ve come all the way across the universe to give you this important information.” When you look at what they are “sharing,” it’s all about debunking Jesus, the Bible, God, and salvation. These supposed alien visitors claim there is no such thing as sin. They say that we need to combine into a one-world religion and a one-world government. I kid you not! They claim humanity needs to follow a one-world ruler, or we are going to be destroyed. They say that we need to worship Mother Earth.

These alien visitors actually have the audacity to say that Satan is a good guy who has come to free us! Now, excuse me, that is demonic, that is a deception, that is a lie.

Then they say, in order to receive these messages, you have to let them take over a person’s vocal cords, and speak through people with their messages. Stop right there! These aliens are supposed to be this highly evolved, technologically advanced race, much more scientific than we are, for that’s how they supposedly traveled here across the cosmos, right? But then, they cannot communicate to us by just sending a text message or calling us on the phone? I’ll even take an old handwritten letter. Why do they have to take over people’s vocal cords and speak through them?

I believe the bulk of UFO sightings can be explained by natural experiences. But then, there’s an element that we need to take a look at closely to see what is going on there. Secular guys are confirming that there is one way to get rid of these aliens 100% of the time. When you command them in the name of Jesus Christ to flee, they flee instantly!

One lady I interviewed in Oregon who had this encounter said when she did that, not only did the “aliens” flee out of there, they fled out of there so fast they were tripping over each other. Now, wait a second; who flees in the name of Jesus? That’d be a demon. They didn’t flee due to the name of Mohammed, or Buddha, or Confucius. No, just the name of Jesus Christ.

Billy Crone: UFO-ology is leading to the last day’s deception. In order to fall for the lie of UFOs, you first have to fall for the lie of Evolution. This tells you how slowly and methodically the Enemy has been setting up the planet for this great deception. He started back in the 1850’s with Charles Darwin who has now permeated the planet with his Theory of Evolution.

Secondly, Evolution gets some help from Hollywood. They glamorize aliens and UFOs. Everybody then “knows” there must be real live aliens out there. As a matter of fact, you’re considered a wacko for not believing that aliens must be real. Folks, science fiction is leading society to somewhere.

I remember back before I was saved and was immersed in the New Age. I received these so-called “channeled messages” from supposed space aliens. Now that I’m saved, I know that was all demonic. In my documentary, I actually quote these demons who are continually preparing the way to explain away the Rapture of the Church.

The Rapture of the Church is true. The Bible teaches about that soon- coming event. Put yourself, if you will, in the Enemy’s shoes. Soon there will be an event that will occur around the globe where millions of people from all across the planet instantaneously disappear, and they’ll specifically only be Christians. You just can’t spin that baby. You can’t hide that event. So, you better come up with some good excuse.

Think about how slowly and methodically the Enemy has been preparing their lie to explain away the Rapture. It started with Evolution back in the 1850s, and Hollywood has perpetuated it today. All somebody has to do right after the Rapture is stand up on the world scene, maybe somebody even like the pope, and try to reassure people. He may say, “Hey, people! I just want you to know you were right all along. The government has been hiding this truth from you. UFOs and aliens are real. See, that’s why all of these people have disappeared. It was aliens. They beamed all of those Christians up to their ships.”

Nathan Jones: Isn’t that a central tenant of New Age teaching, that when Maitreya returns, after Christians have been taken off this planet, that humanity can at last evolve to their true states without those accursed Christians holding people back?

Billy Crone: That is another one of Satan’s lies. It’s very convenient, I dare say. Think about how much UFOs have permeated the mindset of people. They are going to fall for that excuse for the Rapture lickety-split.

They’ll actually spin the fact that the world has been left behind into a seemingly good thing. Jesus said the seven-year Tribulation will be the worse time in the history of mankind. But, no, these deceivers will spin that being left behind was a blessing. “You are a chosen one. Now you get to be a part of the Age of Utopia as we rebuild the planet in a wonderful time of peace.”

How crazy! After all, the event that starts the seven-year Tribulation will be the Antichrist. As Daniel 9:27 and Revelation 6:1 reveal, this White Horse Rider initiates a false peace. The people will go, “This is true. Look! He made a deal in the Middle East that nobody could do. How amazing! We’ve at last got peace on our planet. Everybody has come together, even religion and government. How amazing! How wonderful!” Nope! You just found yourself left behind in the seven-year Tribulation. It wasn’t UFOs that sucked those people up. That was Jesus Christ coming back to collect His Bride.

Especially in a time of crisis and on such a massive scale, human nature gravitates toward any lame excuse just to maintain one’s sanity. Aliens are not a lame excuse for the Rapture because, with this one, the world is ripe to fall for it.

Nathan Jones: Some people theorize that the Antichrist might arrive claiming that he is an alien, sort of like Superman. I don’t know where they get that, but do you think they may be correct?

Billy Crone: Well, sure. Why not? You’ve got some people who say the Antichrist will be a Muslim. Where in the Bible are they reading that one? The origins of the Antichrist, unfortunately, is often a topic people sensationalize. In doing so, they lead people astray from the biblical teaching. Such a theory may warrant our attention, but stick purely with the Bible.

I’m convinced this fascination with UFOs provides us a great opportunity to witness to the lost. The lost are enthralled with UFOs and aliens, and to me, it provides a fantastic opportunity to share the Gospel with them.

You can view the full interview titled “Sensationalism in Bible Prophecy with Billy Crone” at this link.

“The Presence of the SEED (spirit) of God in the Born Agains restrains the lawless one. A Society with Born Agains actively living therein acts as a natural restraint on sin... When GOD removes the Born Agains from the Earth, from all societies of peoples the lawless one is unrestrained and rises to have the power to rule unrestrained by the Presence of The Holy Spirit in peoples who are The Body of Christ. The Body of Christ as a collective Body, when removed from the Earth, un-restrains the rise of antichrist.”

It seems to me that attributing the role of the 2 Thessalonians 2 “restrainer” to the Holy Spirit is forced upon the next rather than being drawn out of it. I always find it helpful to go back to the text under discussion and be sure that I am not superimposing my own presuppositions on it.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 (NKJV)
Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Re-reading the text, I am reminded of what specifically is being restrained: the revealing of the antichrist, which must happen at a precise time under God’s control. This event is important specifically because Paul says it is one of two things that must occur prior to the Day of the Lord. The other one is the “falling away” or apostasy.

This begs the question of what event signifies the revealing of antichrist. Over the years, all the way back to the apostolic era, many have speculated as to who the antichrist might be. Revelation gives us a clue connected with his name. But the truth is that we don’t know. Until he is revealed it is all speculative. But I think the passage is not referring to merely some Christians becoming aware that a particular man is or may be the antichrist. It is referring to an event.

A pre-trib rapture would require the revealing or unveiling of antichrist to be prior to or at the exact moment of the start of Daniel’s seventieth week, because this event must take place before the Day of the Lord. And the pretrib position must make these seven years equivalent to or part of the Day of the Lord. So the typical speculation is that the signing of the seven-year treaty protecting Israel will identify the antichrist. However, it is not the treaty but the breaking of it that identifies him. And the text here specifically identifies an event that occurs in the exact middle of Daniels seventieth week.

To me, without overwhelming evidence to the contrary, we should assume that it is the abomination of desolation that reveals the antichrist. But if this is the case, then it presents an extreme difficulty for the pretrib rapture position. There is a general consensus among all pre-millennialists (pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib, and pre-wrath) that the rapture occurs at the arrival of the Day of the Lord. These various positions just have differing views about what constitutes the Day of the Lord. But if antichrist is revealed at the abomination of desolation, and this event must occur before the Day of the Lord, then this also would mean the rapture does not occur until after this event as well.

Books could be and have been written on these issues. I will not presume to resolve all of the related disagreements, but the biggest problem with identifying the “restrainer” as the Holy Spirit is that taking the Holy Spirit out of the world would make it impossible for the massive numbers of people to overcome the strong delusion, be convicted of their sins, repent, and hear, understand, and believe the Gospel, and then endure to the end at a time when the worst trials and tribulations of history are perpetrated against Gods people.

Remember that the Great Commission requires the work of the Holy Spirit, who was prophesied to be coming in the Old Testament. The Gospel must also be preached in the whole world BEFORE the End comes.

Look at this relevant passage about the role of the Holy Spirit (which Peter quotes from on Pentecost):

Joel 2:28-32 (NKJV)
And it shall come to pass afterward
That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions.
And also on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth:
Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
And it shall come to pass
That whoever calls on the name of the Lord
Shall be saved.
For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance,
As the Lord has said,
Among the remnant whom the Lord calls.

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit AND the signs and wonders in the heavens (sky) proceed the Day of the Lord. But Christ taught that the heavenly signs follow the Great Tribulation:

Matthew 24:29-31 (NKJV)
Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

I believe we can divide Daniel’s seventieth week into four parts based on the Olivet discourse:

1. time of great deception/false peace
2. beginning of sorrows
3. the Great Tribulation
4. the End/Day of the Lord

The End/Day of the Lord is a time period which is equivalent to the Second Coming, and begins with the rapture and ends with Christ destroying antichrist. But what I am espousing is a pre-wrath view. It asserts that the Church will face antichrist but will NOT experience God’s wrath being poured out on the earth during the Day of the Lord judgments (the trumpet and bowl judgments of Revelation).

Read and learn from this excerpt (if you can remove Satan's lies from your mind) :

What Difference Does it All Make ?Why should someone who believes in the “rapture” get ANGRY when shown, from the Bible, that the so-called “secret rapture” is a myth? If Christ is going to redeem the saved; if Christ is coming to catch up His people, including the dead in Christ, and descend with them to the mount of Olives in the same day, then His true followers will be SAVED, will they not? They will be born of God by a resurrection, or an instantaneous change, will they not? (1 Corinthians 15:50-52). They will then come down from the clouds, perhaps anywhere from 10 to 40,000 feet above the earth, in this earth’s atmosphere, and will be with Christ as He begins to rule this earth with a rod of iron. What is so wrong with these wondrous promises of your Bible that “pretribulationists” and “secret rapturists” seem to violently object? It is simply this: Somehow, they cannot bring themselves to believe the “saved” could suffer any harm! For some reason, an insidious false assumption has crept into the minds of millions of people, an assumption which says God would not think of allowing His saints to come to any physical harm! No, any such terrible event is reserved only for the wicked, so they think! What they do not realize is that such a false assumption makes them out to be better than Christ! Did not Christ say, “If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also”? Did He not say, “In this world ye shall tribulation”? Did He not say, “The time will come when they that killeth you will think they do God a service”? Another equation in this false assumption is that martyrdom is reserved for the spiritually weak ! Those who cling to the false notion of “church eras” point out how God will allegedly throw those in the so-called “Laodicean attitude” of lukewarmness into the Great Tribulation, while spiriting away into a desert wilderness the “good” people in the “Philadelphian era.” According to this scenario, those closest to God; those on fire with zeal; those with the most faith, the most works, the most spiritual character, will be PROTECTED from the Tribulation, miraculously “taken to a place of safety.” But those who are less faithful, not so close to God; those without zeal; those who are lukewarm, who have weak spiritual character, will be chosen as God’s martyrs! As they suffer, they will realize how terribly weak, and lukewarm they have been, as the theory goes, and, under torture and eventual death, they will repent! But WHO did God choose as His martyrs? Look at the list: Jesus Christ, Peter, James, Paul, Stephen, Antipas, dozens of others in the first century. Read the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, how God’s greatest prophets were oftentimes martyred for their faith. John saw a vision of the witness of two prophets, two human beings who will personally testify against the Beast and the False Prophet! Their Prophecy is to take place during the Tribulation! “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. “These are the two olive trees [mentioned in symbol in Zechariah 4:3], and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. “And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. “These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. “And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit [the abyss—a spiritual metaphor] shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. “And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. “And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. “And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts to one another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth. “And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet and great fear fell upon them which saw them. “And they heard a great voice out from heaven saying unto them, ‘Come up hither,’ And they ascended to heaven [this earth’s atmosphere, where vapors form clouds—not the “third heaven” of God’s throne] in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. “And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted: and gave glory to the God of heaven” (Revelation 11:2-13). These two men are in Jerusalem all during the Tribulation and the Day Of the Lord. Their three and one-half year’s testimony coincides exactly with the “time of Jacob’s trouble,” of three and one-half years; with the “times of the Gentiles” of three and one-half years; with the “treading down of Jerusalem” of three and one-half years! God gives them power far above that of Moses or Elijah. The plagues they call down upon sinning mankind, upon the Beast and False Prophet, are global in nature, not national, or local, as in the former cases. These two prophets, the “two witnesses” of the future, are human beings, converted, Spirit-led SAINTS! They are Christ’s servants, conducting the last-minute, FINAL phase of God’s work on this earth of PERSONALLY witnessing to the Beast and False Prophet in the name of Christ! What happens to them? They are martyred! When the Beast is finally able to “make war” against them, overcome them, and kill them, the Bible does not tell us specifically how they die. You can be sure it will not be pleasant! Yet, after lying dead in the street for three and one-half days, they are obviously resurrected, and will be given eternal life! Are these two great prophets “Laodicean”? Are they “left behind” when the saints are “raptured,” or the so-called “Philadelphia era” goes to a “place of safety”? Do they suffer a horrible death because they are spiritually inferior? No, God does not choose the spiritually WEAK, the lukewarm, to be His martyrs! Instead, He chooses those who are so close to God that they literally count all things in this life “as dung” (Philippians 3:8) in comparison with the Kingdom of God, and eternal life! “Rapturists,” like “survivalists” and “escapists,” have their minds on the preservation of this physical life! Jesus Christ tells them that those who seek to save their lives in this world, who have their minds on physical things, are likely to lose out on salvation! No, God is NOT going to “rapture” away His saints secretly. The lady with the bumper sticker will not suddenly disappear through her roof, after all!

Let us not trust in false hopes, but in Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and God the Father, Who loves us, and Who promises eternal life with Him in His Kingdom to all those who “endure unto the end ,” whether that means the end of our own physical lives or the end of the Tribulation and the Day of the Lord!

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