PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE TO THE
SECOND COMING-MILLENNIUM
The church is mentioned more than twenty times in the first three chapters of revelation. There is no mention of the church between revelation 4:1 and revelation 19:1
The bible never says the church will go through the tribulation period.
Revelation 3:10 10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 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:
17 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.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Jesus comes to meet his church in the rapture.
1Thessalonians 3:13 13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
Jesus comes with his church in the second coming.
The church goes up from the earth in the rapture, and it comes down to the earth in the second coming.
2 Thessalonians 2:6-8 6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
We can’t be certain and do not know what hold back the lawless one, there are three possibilities.
1. Government and law, which help to curb evil.
2. The ministry and activity of the church and the effects of the good news.
3. The Holy Spirit.
The bible is not clear on who this restrainer is, on that the restraint is removed.
God is far stronger that the man of lawlessness and God will save his people.
The lawlessness is already secretly at work. This means that the work that this antichrist will do is already going on.
Secretly means something no one can discover by something God will reveal.
We have yet to see the real horror of complete lawlessness.
This will happen when the one who is holding it back, possible the Holy Spirit, steps out of the way.
Why will God allow this to happen? To show people and nations their own sinfulness, and to show them by bitter experience the true alternative… The Lordship of Christ.
Revelation 19:7 7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
The church must go to heaven for the marriage of the Lamb, before the second coming at the end of the tribulation period.
Sometime after the rapture a seven-year period will begin which is called the tribulation. It is nowhere specified that the tribulation will immediately follow the rapture.
So there may be some interval between the two events of the Rapture and the tribulation. Still the rapture could happen tonight.
Confusion over whether or not there will be a rapture does exist. One reason for this is that the word rapture is not in the bible.
That is why the pre-tribulation concept of the rapture has often been condemned as escapism. I think this criticism is unjustified.
1 Thessalonian 4:18 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
The bible itself says that Christians are to comfort one another.
With the concept of the rapture.
So we should be encouraging each other, comforting and reassuring other brothers and sisters in Christ with this great hope.
Keep in mind the word rapture is not in the English translation of the bible. The new testament was written in Greek.
Then was translated into Latin and then English, several verses of the bible in the Latin translation contains the word rapture. It was penned by Saint Jerome from the Latin Vulgate “rapere.”
It means to be caught up, plucked up or taken up. Christians translate this Latin word to mean rapture.
Gods patience with those on earth is probably wearing pretty thin. I believe the tribulation period is approaching very fast.
As believers we need to submit to Gods authority as a daily principle in our lives.
The rapture of the church has happened, the dead in Christ have risen and we which are alive shall be caught up together.
At this time, or perhaps a period of time, the first three-and-a-half-year tribulation will begin.
The seals begin to open, the terrible Judgements will not begin like a nuclear explosion, they will not appear to be that bad at first. They will gain in strength as time goes by.
Things will eventually get out of control, and become so bad that mankind would destroy the earth were it not for the second coming of Jesus.
Jesus is the only one who opens the seals and is in charge of the judgements and their timing.
Jesus won’t break the seal and the creature won’t say come up and see until the church is removed. The creature is the one on the white horse, the antichrist.
As long as Noah was on the earth, God did not send the flood and judge the world.
As long as lot and his family were in Sodom and Gomorrah, God did not send the fire and brimstone to destroy the cities.
Today, as long as the church is in the world, God will not send these terrible judgments. As soon as the church is taken to heaven, God will not hesitate to pour out his wrath.
As these seals are opened four horses and riders are loosed.
The first is a white horse,
Revelation 6:2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.
This is the anti-christ riding this white horse, he is an imitation of Jesus who will return at the end of the tribulation on a white horse.
The second seal produces a red horse, whose rider has power to take peace from the earth. This could easily be nuclear warfare.
The third seal produces a black horse whose rider is famine. Famine always follows war; it is not worldwide but middle east.
The fourth seal produces a pale horse whose rider is death, this rider won’t be looking for the saved, instead he will be hunting the great mass of people who are destined for an eternity in hell.
This rider will go forth to harvest the souls of unbelievers to fuel the fires of hell.
It staggers the imagination to realize that one fourth of the world’s population will be destroyed within a matter of days.
The fifth seal following the rapture multitudes will accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, they are called the tribulation saints.
World leaders will say these Christians are a threat to the world government, world peace, world religion and the environment.
Therefore, they must be dealt with, followers of the new age movement teach that the earth must go through a cleansing. Their vision will include the death of all who turn to Jesus.
At the beginning or right after the tribulation a great host of armies are gathered to do battle with Israel.
Ezekiel 38: 14-16 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord God; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
This army is Russia and her allies.
Ezekiel 39: 1-4 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
Russia and its allies are defeated, except one sixth or about fifteen percent.
Because of the way God moves on behalf of their nation 144,000 will come to know Jesus.
There will be chaos after the rapture and after the war with Russia and her allies, which will allow the antichrist to come to power.
4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
Remember that the heads represent seven world governments, the antichrist will be given so much power that he will be the world government.
This will be a pivotal moment for Satin and his anti-christ. Every unbeliever in the world will be amazed. At this point they will follow him, even into war.
They will follow him because he is injured unto death and was miraculously healed. When this healing occurs, the end of the tribulation period will be exactly forty two months away.
They will be in awe of his power and the miracles he performs.
He will unite the world. Under his leadership he will control the economy.
People who are impressed by power will follow those who display it forcefully, or offer it to their followers.
The end of the tribulation will come about the time the antichrist sits in the temple and declares that he is god.
At the first part of the tribulation there is a covenant made with Israel. It will be broken at the three and a half time period of the tribulation.
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
With his rise in power his great victories in other wars, his overwhelming personality and of course his miraculous healing, they will believe this man is invincible.
Even the rulers of the other divisions of the world will be so impressed with him.
This man “the antichrist” will be a master deceiver with persuasive power from the pits of hell.
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
At this point things are so dangerous for the Jewish people at Judaea they are told in the word to flee to the mountains.
Revelation 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
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