Editions

Edition 476: July 2^nd 2019

Analysing the rapture (Part 3)

Introduction:

These are words of life!

Recently I heard a number of ministers using the phrase, “This is not going to end well.”

They were referring to a number of worldly issues, which are most certainly not going to end well for the world. But there is another side to the story. Everything is going to end in spectacular, magnificent glory for all true believers. We must be aware of both.

A lot of people reject the rapture because they can’t imagine it. They think it is science fiction! In that case, then so is the resurrection and ascension of our Lord, as well as other previous raptures revealed in the Bible. But very soon, the unbelieving world and unbelieving but professing Christians will know all about it – too late, except for tears!

As explained in the previous two editions, the three rapture views are pre-tribulation, mid, and post.

Only one can be right. The pre-tribulation rapture position today is under growing attack, by the dead church and the world. That alone should go a long way to proving that it is right. The post tribulation view is popular with the Spirit-less church, but is the most unlikely.

Here are some more problems with the post- trib view to add to those of the last edition:

Post-tribulation rapture problems:

Why does the Bible seemingly go out of its way to stress the manner of the coming of the Lord in two very different ways? The first is described as, “We will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air”. (1 Thessalonians 4:17) The second is described as His coming to Jerusalem, to the Mount of Olives with “His feet touching the Mount of Olives?” (Zechariah 14:4)

This can only be the case if these are two separate, distinct comings. One is at rapture and the other at the Second Coming. They cannot be the same event, ruling out a general post-tribulation rapture.

There are a number of rapture verses that could go either way – pre, mid, or post, but there are many that don’t fit the post- tribulation rapture position, whichever way you cut it!

1 Thessalonians 1:10 “...He delivers us from the wrath to come”.

If there is a post- trib rapture, what “wrath to come” is this? A post-trib rapture is followed immediately by the Millennium and not wrath!

Revelation 3:10 “Because you have kept My word to persevere, I also will keep you from (Lit = clean out away from) the hour (Lit =- wider time period) of trial which shall come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth.”

If we have a post-trib rapture, what trial is this? A post-trib rapture would mean that believers are kept clean out away from the trial which is the Millennium!

2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 “Now concerning the coming of the Lord 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 the Lord 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.”

 Due to persecution, the believers at Thessalonica thought they were in the tribulation, and had missed the rapture. If we have a post- trib rapture, why would that be an issue, why would you be troubled by a letter saying that you are going through the tribulation at the end of the tribulation?

The timing of the rapture:

Luke 19:42-44 “If you had known, even you (Jews), especially in this your day, the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes...They will not leave one stone standing upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

If our Lord was angry that the Jews did not know the time of their visitation (first coming), why would He be happy that modern believers do not know the time of their visitation?

Note one very important fact in this discourse above. The Jews were not only rebuked by our Lord for not knowing the time, but they were told that because they did not know the time, they would now not be able to know the time because they had been blinded!

One of the reasons that there is so much confusion about the rapture is that many Christians have their eyes blinded, due to their spiritual ignorance. They are not able to know.

Do you see how important it is to always be open to God’s truth and His word, His way?

It is not God’s will for you to be ignorant of this most important time as it approaches fast.

Many Bible teachers keep on repeating the same old thing: “No one know the time”, and “no one knows the day or hour.”

The term “No one knows” is Strong’s G 1492 “eido” and is used in the past tense. In other words no one has known (at that time). It does not rule out a future knowing.

God did not warn of coming massive judgements in the Old Covenant, so that people would not know the time of those judgements. He warned so they would know.

The seven-year tribulation period is the seven-year “time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7) and the seventieth week (of years) (Daniel 9:27), which is the closing out of the dispensation of the Old Covenant, which has been on hold during the church age. So, if God warned Israel many times in the Old Covenant, it is consistent that the He will do so again relating to the start of the tribulation.

According to the Bible, the tribulation period will begin just as the antichrist is revealed and signs a peace covenant of some sort between Israel and “the many”. The “restrainer of evil, (The Spirit filled church) will be removed and the church age will come to an abrupt end in rapture.

So, although there are no specific signs ahead of the rapture itself, there are and will be many signs ahead of the tribulation start.

These things will all occur very close to each other. They might occur on the same day or within a few days of each other, but no more than that.

So, we can also look at when the tribulation is to begin to get an idea of the timing of the rapture. As we see the one approaching, the other is at the door, on the door step.

Right now we are very close to the start of the tribulation period. Numerous ducks are all lined up in a row!

Who goes in the rapture?

Only those who are truly born-again of the Spirit of God and of the shed blood of Messiah at the cross, will go in the rapture. There will be few that will go in the rapture! There are very many who think they are Christians who are not.

What constitutes salvation? It is the deliberate, conscious wilful choice to be born-again of the Spirit of God. (John 3:3) It must be confessed and spoken and believed upon. There will be fruit of the Spirit in your life and it will be fruit that remains. (John 15:16) You will overcome the world.  (1 John 5:4) Salvation is by grace alone with no law or works involved. (Ephesians 2:8-9) You will begin to change from the inside out. (Romans 12:1-2) You will have a heart to heart identification with others who are born again. If at all humanly possible you will be adult baptised (total immersion) in water and baptised in the Spirit. (Mark 16:16, Hebrews 6:1-2) You will love the truth.

God loves the backslider and will always welcome him back.

Salvation is not professing to be a Christian without the above factors involved. A true Christian is one in which there has been regeneration in his spirit.

Many churches will be cast into the tribulation period. These are revealed in the first three chapters of the Revelation and numerous other passages.

The following two verses for the church are incredible and profound, with exact opposite messages:

• Revelation 3:10 “Because you kept My word to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth.”

The term “hour of trial” is a reference to the seven year tribulation period. The term “keep you from,” in the original language means to be “kept clean out away from.”

• Revelation 2:22 “Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.

In the original text the term “great tribulation” has the definite article in front of it. It is not talking about general tribulation but the great tribulation. You can add to this Revelation 3:16, speaking of lukewarm church being vomited out of God’s mouth.

So, here are two verses, one promising some churches that they will be cast into the great tribulation and the other, promising this church that it will be kept clean out of the tribulation.

It’s interesting that the Catholic Church and other orthodox churches reject the pre-tribulation rapture position. They’re quite right about that...for themselves!!

Did Noah and his family know when the flood was coming? Yes they did. They knew and they watched and warned! The people of Noah’s day “knew not until the flood swept them away.” (Matthew 24:37-42.) Noah’s warning: Hebrews 11:7 Genesis 7:10, 16 2 Peter 2:5.

Lot was warned by God of the judgement to come on Sodom and got out! We all know the reason for that enormous judgement! (Genesis 19:14)

Both Noah and Lot are used as descriptions for these last days.

Have you noticed that more and more men of God are warning of coming judgment now?

The great escape:

A most short-sighted, scripturally ignorant view perpetrated by many post-trib ministers is that we Christians will be protected through the tribulation, and those believing in a pre-trib rapture are simply wishful thinking escapists.

Let’s see what the Bible says:

Revelation 20:4-5 “I saw thrones and they sat on them and judgement was committed to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”

Revelation 13:6 “He (antichrist) opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle and those who dwell in heaven, and it was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them...” (Trib saints)

Revelation 12:17 “And the dragon was enraged with the woman (who gave birth to the Lord =Israel) and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

Revelation 17:6 “I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus...”

Daniel 7:21-22 “I was watching and that same horn (antichrist) was making war against the saints and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came and judgement was made in favour of the saints of the Most High and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.”

Daniel 7:25 “He (antichrist) shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time times and half a time.

The two witnesses and the 144,000 will be supernaturally protected for their mission, but as we see in these verses above, the tribulation saints (Gentiles and Jews saved in the tribulation period) will not be protected.

How on earth can you come up with such error as protection upon those in the tribulation?

Thank the Lord for the promise and comfort of the great escape – the rapture! Here at The Prophetic Scroll all you will find is biblical escapism! Yay for the great escape!

The terrible end of end-time scoffers and sceptics:

Jeremiah 6:10-23 “To whom shall I speak and give warning that they may hear? Their ear is uncircumcised and they cannot give heed. The word of the Lord is a reproach to them; they have no delight in it. Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord...Their priests and prophets have healed the hurt of My people slightly saying ‘peace peace!’ when there is no peace...I also set watchmen over them saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet’, but they said, ‘we will not listen.’ Hear O earth, I will certainly bring calamity on this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not heeded My words...Behold a people comes from the north country and a great nation from the farthest parts of the earth, with bow and spear, cruel and with no mercy...men of war set in array against the children of Israel.”

Do you see the war of Gog and Magog here?

What an incredible portion of scripture this is! These verses relate to Israel, but can be applied to the dead church just as well! These people want ‘peace, peace’ but they won’t listen to the watchmen and the trumpet-call of coming judgement. Unfortunately, the judgement is coming on these very scoffers and sceptics and on those who won’t listen to the watchmen!

“The wicked will not understand but the wise shall understand.” (Daniel 12:10)

Please do yourself a favour and separate yourself from the Christian scoffers and sceptics. The spirit behind them all is to bring you down into their worldly trap. Someone who is sceptical out of ignorance and who is open to our Lord is another story. (2 Peter 3:3-4)

The intensifying evil of the world:

When you reject God’s morality, the world’s morality takes its place, but it also becomes your jury and judge. If you don’t join them in, or at least support their sin, you are charged with the ‘sin’ of not engaging in their sin! The pressure of satanic group-speak is great on the masses.

Today the collapse of morality is speeding up and worsening fast, supported by many churches. You can’t stop the charge of evil, it’s too late, but you can and must do so for yourself, your family and your own sphere of influence.

The satanic, demonic host are grooming, training and equipping the world for service to their god, before their decent to hell. (Revelation 12:12, Isaiah 14:9)

Today’s world reveals the short-lived ‘triumph’ of Satan’s sin filled man! Tragically the youth of the world are under siege like never before.

This is all revealed in one single sentence of the Bible, (my chosen verse for the year): Proverbs 28:4 “If you forsake the word of God, you will praise the wicked.” Hosea 4:1-2 is a powerful parallel.

And in all of this our Lord stands with outstretched, scarred hands to forgive and receive any sinner who will repent and accept His salvation.

The world is increasingly saying no to God. In so doing they say yes to self, the world and the devil! Actually, rejecting God gives people a sense of self - importance and elevated, exalted pride – just as it did with Lucifer! It gives people an unwritten authority, rooted in deadly pride.

When you or a society, are free to sin, you are on a very slippery slope downhill.

Lost and found:

A number of times in my life while working way out in the wilds on endangered species, I have got myself lost. One time it took me nearly three days to find my way out of the desert. Another time I had three flat tyres in my Landrover while trying to find my way out of the Kalahari Desert, with no roads or infrastructure for 300 kms.  I have been hopelessly lost a few times in dense sub-tropical forest after going off the path in search of the secretive forest pygmy elephants in Gabon. Once I knocked holes in my Landrover’s fuel tank and was left stranded, high and dry in the Makgadikgadi Desert far from help.

Each time I was very worried, but knew I would find a way out and survive if I prayed about it and found the right track, path or road.

There are so many ways to get lost today. There are so many opinions and voices and so much pressure to conform to the wrong way. There are so many ways that seem right but are not!

The tragedy is that so many don’t even know that are lost in the desert! Their leader in the pulpit tells them – “peace, peace, when there is no peace!” And won’t blow the trumpet of warning! In fact he supports the world’s evil – giving you spiritual leprosy!

I seriously encourage you all to take great heed to yourselves now, to examine your faith, to walk in holiness and to forsake the ways of the world. You will be rewarded greatly or pay dearly!

Finally

It’s time to decide which side of the fence you are on. It’s time to decide which kingdom you belong to. If you think you are in the God’s kingdom, that’s absolutely great, but you need to fortify your position in the kingdom, in prayer, commitment, action, word, deed and more.

You must proclaim it and decree it to be such. You must “service” your array of gifts of the Spirit – particularly defensive and put on the whole armour of God.

You must take sides and beware of ministers and ministries that are neutral to the big issues of the day. They are spineless spiritual traitors.

The big issue is that time is running out fast.

Daniel 11:32 “Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt (Lit=pollute) with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits.”

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I took these two pictures in our local wilds and merged them together.

Shalom and grow in His Grace!