Tag Archives: God’s wrath

Two Biblical Proofs Favoring Pre-Tribulation Rapture

04 Thursday Sep 2014

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Proof Positive

Avraham approached and said, ‘Will you actually sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Maybe there are fifty righteous people in the city; will you actually sweep the place away, and not forgive it for the sake of the fifty righteous who are there? Far be it from you to do such a thing — to kill the righteous along with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike! Far be it from you! Shouldn’t the judge of all the earth do what is just?’ ~ Genesis 18:23-25, CJB

For God has not intended that we should experience his fury, but that we should gain deliverance through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who died on our behalf so that whether we are alive or dead, we may live along with him. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, CJB

In necessary things unity; in uncertain things freedom; in everything compassion. ~ Unknown Author; most often misattributed to Augustine

God help us all who call ourselves Christians, for even in a time such as this we still remain unable to become ONE. We primarily are divided by doctrines, issues, and practices. As a result, we who profess to be Your holy and righteous sons and daughters, joint-heirs with Your only begotten Son (Jesus the Christ), frequently end up treating each other like notorious enemies instead of like venerable brothers and sisters in Your Household of Faith.

There continues to be too much arguing among followers of Christ Jesus over doctrines, issues, and practices that neither are crucial to the Gospel of Christ nor to how anyone obtains eternal life (how someone is saved). Christians’ most commonly debated doctrines, issues, and practices include, but are not limited to: the Rapture, the Millennium, the Earth’s Age, Life on Other Planets, Food and Drink, Female Pastors, Observing the Sabbath vs. Worshipping on Sunday, Speaking in Tongues, Performing Miracles, and various legalistic Do’s and Don’ts (like going to the movies, dancing, smoking, drinking, playing cards, wearing makeup, and so forth).

How horrible our arguing with and our mistreatment of Body of Christ members must look to the unsaved world. No wonder the masses of lost souls in today’s world are not coming to Christ Jesus. Why would any of them want to be a part of this current 21st century body of believers who vehemently disagree with each other? These quarrelsome believers not only refuse to tolerate but also choose not to be civil to their brothers or sisters in Christ Jesus who think differently about things that usually have nothing to do with a person’s salvation nor with the Gospel of Christ!

If we agree on the essentials, yet disagree on the non-essentials, then let us learn how to agree to disagree without becoming/being disagreeable (unloving, compassionless, coldhearted, intolerable, argumentative, hostile, inhospitable, bad-tempered, grouchy, snarky, sarcastic, stubborn, nasty, offensive, unpleasant, unfriendly, rude, legalistic, insulting, disrespectful, and the list goes on). Let us learn how to remain loving, caring, and kind to each other. After all, one of the most crucial lessons Christ Jesus taught is this one: “This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other” (John 13:35, MSG).

Having said that, let me say this: Because I know that the Rapture is one of the most commonly debated doctrines, I would like to share, strictly from a general theological perspective, two biblical proofs favoring a pre-Tribulation Rapture. Not only do I find these proofs to be two of the best but also I agree with them, as do so many theologians, countless other followers of Christ, and even copious churchgoers. For this reason, I am certain that numerous individuals who will read this blog entry probably already know these proofs, and I equally am certain that various other individuals who will read this blog entry neither had read nor had heard of these proofs before now. My hope then is that the end result of having read this article will be that those readers who didn’t believe will have come to believe what so many present-day followers of Christ already accept to be true about the Bride of Christ’s pre-Tribulation Rapture.

Biblical Proof Number One—from the Old Testament:

Anyone who believes that there is a radical and ESSENTIAL difference between the righteous and the wicked should agree that God knows the difference, and  he or she should agree that God is the One who makes the distinction between those who are “righteous” and those who are “wicked.” Additionally, anyone who believes that there is a radical and ESSENTIAL difference between the righteous and the wicked also should agree that righteousness and wickedness are exact opposite spiritual (heavenly vs. hellish) characteristics, which is why God never wanted His righteous children and the world’s wicked persons to mix.

Furthermore, since God knew there would be a nonstop righteous vs. wicked battle taking place on this Earth, that is why He had some undeniable proof of His timeless pattern of Judgment placed in His Word. Biblical proof number one, therefore, is that God does not judge His truly righteous believers with the world’s very wicked unbelievers. This biblical pattern is most noticeable in the Scriptures describing the time of Noah, and it continues to become more evident throughout the rest of the Old Testament. God’s pattern of Judgment also is found in the New Testament, especially in end-times verses. That’s why there really can be no denying that God clearly is represented throughout the Holy Bible as a righteous Judge who pronounces Judgment that always is correct and fair.

For example, in the Old Testament, Abraham, who is one of Noah’s after-the-Flood descendants, knew quite well that God never would judge the righteous with the wicked, and that is why Abraham doesn’t shy away from reminding God of His existing Judgment pattern. Abraham says to God:

…Will you actually sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Maybe there are fifty righteous people in the city; will you actually sweep the place away, and not forgive it for the sake of the fifty righteous who are there? Far be it from you to do such a thing — to kill the righteous along with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike! Far be it from you! Shouldn’t the judge of all the earth do what is just? ~ Genesis 18:23-25, CJB

The point here is that it had been established before Noah’s day that God is a just and righteous Judge who only punishes (pours out His Wrath only upon those whom He has judged as) the wicked, and then only AFTER He has removed (separated) the righteous from mingling with the wicked. Righteous Noah, his sons, and his sons’ wives were saved from God’s 40 days and 40 nights of the falling rain Flood Judgment, while God poured out His promised diluvial Wrath upon all of the Earth’s wicked inhabitants, as well as upon the Earth itself!

As already mentioned, this pattern of God’s Judgment runs all through the Testaments. Of course, there always is an exception, and the exception that must be noted here is that, although there are many New Testament verses that chiefly emphasize God’s Judgment, there is NO mention of God’s Judgment in the New Testament passages considered as Rapture passages. This observation leads to the second biblical proof.

Biblical Proof Number Two—from the New Testament:

Since there is no mention of God’s Judgment in the New Testament’s Rapture verses, then it is decidedly possible that the Rapture of the Bride of Christ happens at a separate time from when God judges and then punishes the Earth and the left-behind wicked, many who are followers of the Antichrist, with His fiery Wrath. The apostle John writes:

Then I saw another sign in heaven, a great and wonderful one — seven angels with the seven plagues that are the final ones; because with them, God’s fury is finished. ~ Revelation 15:1, CJB

Apostle John most assuredly is describing the last Judgments—the last of God’s judiciary righteous Judgments issued against the left-behind ungodly (His Wrath or Fury). The apostle also is describing God’s righteous Punishment for committed crimes His enemies are guilty of (His Wrath or Fury). Without doubt, these seven plagues (seven bowl judgments) are the last of all of God’s promised righteous end-times Punishment (His Wrath or Fury).

All the same, it must be noted here that apostle Paul says when Christ Jesus died on the Cross, His atoning sacrifice not only had made the gift of eternal life (Salvation) available, but also He had saved (rescued, delivered) believers from God’s end-times Judgments and Punishment (outpouring of Wrath). In other words, so that God’s righteous would not experience any of His end-times Wrath, Christ Jesus’ sacrificial dying absorbed it ALL. Thus, biblical proof number two is Christ Jesus already took the Wrath of God in place of God’s Household of Faith believers—bore the FULL brunt of God’s Wrath for the Body of Christ, also known as the Bride of Christ (both saved Christian Jews and Gentiles). Apostle Paul writes:

…you turned to God from idols, to serve the true God, the one who is alive, and to wait for his Son Yeshua, whom he raised from the dead, to appear from heaven and rescue us from the impending fury of God’s judgment. ~ 1 Thessalonians 1:9b-10, CJB

~ and ~

For God has not intended that we should experience his fury, but that we should gain deliverance through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who died on our behalf so that whether we are alive or dead, we may live along with him. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, CJB

The point here is that it already had been established before Christ Jesus’ day that God still is a just and righteous Judge who only punishes (pours out His Wrath only upon those whom He has judged as) the wicked, and then only AFTER He has removed (separated) the righteous from mingling with the wicked. Therefore, it stands to reason that the Lord’s righteous Bride first will be saved (rescued, delivered) from any part of God’s seven years of the end-times Tribulation Judgments, after which God then will pour out all of His promised fiery Wrath upon all of the Earth’s left-behind inhabitants!

The bottom line is this: As it was in Noah and Abraham’s days, so will it be in these current last days. God will NOT have His spiritually renewed, saved, and reconciled back to Himself sons and daughters endure any of His prophesied end-times Judgments and Punishment that are reserved for His and Israel’s enemies. There is absolutely no way that God could explain or defend why He would let those individuals, whom the beaten and crucified Christ Jesus’ Blood has justified as righteous, and whom the mighty workings of the Holy Spirit completely has sanctified as holy (sinless), go through any of the seven years of the end-times Tribulation. That is why the Bride of Christ will NOT be in the Tribulation Period!

Once again, the two biblical proofs favoring a pre-Tribulation Rapture for the Bride of Christ are that God never would judge His righteous when He judges the wicked, and Christ Jesus already has emptied God’s full cup of Wrath so that born again, saved, justified, and fully sanctified followers of Christ would never have to experience any Wrath of God. AMEN!

For a detailed explanation about God’s Wrath, please read my blog entry Lost In Translation.

Pre-Wrath Is Misnomer

28 Saturday Dec 2013

Posted by in Bible Prophecy

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Pre-Wrath Rapture Theory

These are the words the Lord spoke to Israel and Judah. Yes, this is what the Lord says:

We have heard a cry of terror,
of dread—there is no peace.
Ask and see
whether a male can give birth.
Why then do I see every man
with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor
and every face turned pale?
How awful that day will be!
There will be none like it!
It will be a time of trouble for Jacob,
but he will be delivered out of it. ~ Jeremiah 30:4-7, HCSB

 

As for you, My servant Jacob,
do not be afraid—
       this is the Lord’s declaration—
and do not be dismayed, Israel,
for without fail I will save you from far away,
your descendants, from the land of their captivity!
Jacob will return and have calm and quiet
with no one to frighten him.
For I will be with you—
       this is the Lord’s declaration—
to save you!
I will bring destruction on all the nations
where I have scattered you;
however, I will not bring destruction on you.
I will discipline you justly,
and I will by no means leave you unpunished. ~ Jeremiah 30:10-11, HCSB

 

Seventy weeks are decreed
about your people and your holy city—
to bring the rebellion to an end,
to put a stop to sin,
to wipe away iniquity,
to bring in everlasting righteousness,
to seal up vision and prophecy,
and to anoint the most holy place. ~ Daniel 9:24, HCSB

He will make a firm covenant
with many for one week,
but in the middle of the week
he will put a stop to sacrifice and offering.
And the abomination of desolation
will be on a wing of the temple
until the decreed destruction
is poured out on the desolator. ~ Daniel 9:27, HCSB

 

 

Many believers today are preaching and teaching the Pre-Wrath Rapture Theory. There are many problems with this theory, starting with the fact that Pre-Wrath is a misnomer, especially since ONLY Pre-Tribulationism is 100% pre-wrath!

Be that as it may, another widely used misnomer is Tribulation, as in the prophesied 7-year period:  the 3½ years of Tribulation and the 3½ years of Great Tribulation.  In the Old Testament, it is Daniel’s 70th Week that is described as the entire 7 years of Tribulation. This Week is the decreed time God has established for bringing Israel’s obstinate rebellion against Him to an end, and the decreed time for completing His final discipline and judgment upon Israel (His elect; His chosen Jewish people), as well as the decreed time for making His final judgment upon this world’s unbelieving inhabitants. Furthermore, Daniel’s 70 Weeks are described as the time when God cleanses the entire Earth (the time when He puts an end to ALL transgression, seals up and makes an end of ALL sins, makes reconciliation for iniquity, and brings in everlasting righteousness, seals up vision and prophecy, and anoints the most holy place; see Daniel 9:24). These abovementioned prophecies are scheduled to be completed before Jesus Christ’s Millennial Kingdom on Earth begins!

On the other hand, the Time of Jacob’s Trouble is the Old Testament’s description of the last 3½ years of Daniel’s 70th Week, which most end time biblical prophecy scholars also call the Great Tribulation. God says that though this time will be filled with birth pangs that increase in intensity and frequency, becoming more relentless than they’ve ever been at any other time, He will deliver/save Jacob. Here Jacob symbolizes God’s elect or chosen Jewish people, and they are the ones God promises He will NOT let perish during the terrible Time of Jacob’s Trouble, even though He will judge and punish them (see Jeremiah 30:4-24). The reason why the Jewish people as a whole must be judged and punished is because they still need to give their hearts to God, by accepting His Salvation program—Jesus the Christ, who is their Lord and Savior! Ultimately, the nation of Israel, like Jacob, will receive a new name—Hephzibah (my delight is in Her) and the land Beulah (married)! According to Isaiah 62:4, this name change also is the purpose of the decreed Time of Jacob’s Trouble.

Now there are many Christians who believe that ONLY right “…now is the day of salvation” (see 2 Corinthians 6:2). That is to say, these believers maintain that if unbelievers haven’t accepted Jesus Christ BEFORE Daniel’s 70th Week begins that NONE of them will receive salvation during this prophesied unparalleled seven-year Tribulation. They also believe that it is a lie of the devil to preach and teach that the people in the Tribulation Period will still have another chance to get saved.

While “NOW” always has been the time for the lost souls living on this Earth to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, “NOW” also is the time for all believers to allow the Holy Spirit to sanctify them completely. However, just like the majority of lost souls are not accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, too many saved believers are not allowing the Holy Spirit to do His sanctifying work in them. No doubt believers’ refusal to surrender totally to the Holy Spirit’s mighty sanctification process, and their refusal to surrender totally to His leading, prompting, teaching, and so forth, are why God does say in His Word that countless people will be saved during the seven-year Tribulation.

For sure, many unbelieving left behinders will be saved (receive salvation) before the Day of Judgment (before Jesus Christ’s Second Coming, when His feet actually touch the Mount of Olives, which is by the time the Book of Life and the Book of Death have been sealed). Moreover, many unprepared (not holy enough to be raptured or taken) believers in Christ also will be sifted like wheat during Daniel’s 70th Week, especially during the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (cf. Jeremiah 51:33; Amos 9:9; Matthew 3:12; Luke 3:17; Luke 22:31).

The sifting like wheat analogy refers to unprepared believers needing to experience some violent trampling or threshing, some forceful winnowing or throwing into the air to allow the wind to blow away unwanted parts, and some upside-down strong sieving or shaking, before their true “grit”—staying power, like steadfast faithfulness, holiness, obedience, and so forth—can be verified. Perhaps this end time wheat sifting is why, when John the Baptist describes the coming of Jesus the Christ, he does so by painting the image of the Lord separating genuine believers from fakes, via threshing, winnowing, and sieving. John the Baptist also describes the Lord as the prophesied One who will gather His shifted like wheat true believers into the Kingdom of God on Earth, in the same manner that grain is gathered into a barn. The Lord also will gather the fake believers and the ones who totally rejected Christ Jesus as their Lord and Savior, but then He will throw them into the Lake of Fire where they will burn in an unquenchable fire (see Matthew 3:12; Luke 3:17).

There can be no doubt that this end-time sifting by the Lord certainly will cause not only countless numbers of lost souls to repent and be saved but also will cause numerous left-behind unprepared believers to get back onto the right path—the path that leads to an eternity with God. Therefore, it should be clear that, although numerous people will be saved and others sifted, during the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, which primarily involves God’s chosen left-behind Jewish people, their salvation and sifting will be achieved only because they went through the worse Hell on Earth. Many of these left-behinders not only will suffer persecution, starvation, thirst, earthquakes, and so forth, but also plenty of them will experience a beheading! Even then, there still will be other left-behinders who will continue in sin, including cursing God up until the time of Christ Jesus’ bodily return!

Now, for the record, the gathering of His elect “…from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other…” (Matthew 24:31) is not a reference to the Rapture of the Bride of Christ. When Jesus Christ speaks of the gathering of the His elect in His Olivet Discourse, He is referring to His angels gathering together all of the nations of the world, from the four corners of the Earth, AFTER the Great Tribulation has ended.  In other words, this is the gathering of the Tribulation survivors—the metaphorical wheat/tares and sheep/goats.

That the saved sheep/wheat will be allowed to enter into the Millennium, which is the time when Jesus Christ rules as King of this Earth for 1,000 years, is undisputable evidence that proves people (metaphorically, the sheep/goats and wheat/tares) in the Time of Jacob’s Trouble not only will be separated from one another but also will repent and get saved during the Tribulation Period. As mentioned in this blogger’s several other blog postings, the only people who will be able to re-populate this Earth during Jesus Christ’s Millennial Reign are those “saved” survivors from the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, because the Bride of Christ (both the dead and the alive in Christ at the time when they meet Him in the air); the alive and pure 144,000 Jewish evangelists, who have the seal of God; and the martyred saints ALL will have received their glorified bodies.

Now, Jesus Christ teaches the Sadducees that neither those resurrected nor those raptured humans who are in Heaven will be marrying and giving in marriage in Heaven. Matthew writes:

The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, saying, ‘Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’ Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. So too the second and third, down to the seventh. After them all, the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.’ But Jesus answered them, ‘You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God:‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.’ And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching. ~ Matthew 22:23-33, ESV

Likewise, the apostle Paul teaches in the Scriptures that those who enter Heaven are primarily the resurrected dead and raptured alive Bride of Christ members, who have received glorified bodies (bodies like what the angels have). Thus, since marriage is the only way people on Earth will be able to procreate, those people who re-populate this planet during Jesus Christ’s Millennial Reign will be the surviving saints from the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, who indeed are “saved” but still in their natural bodies!

Concerning the gathering of the Bride of Christ, whom the apostle Paul speaks about, this gathering is not the same gathering of the already mentioned end-time saints—the Tribulation’s surviving sheep/wheat. This gathering apostle Paul speaks about is the Rapture of the Bride of Christ—the taking or snatching out of harm’s way (catching up; harpazo). Now the only way this harpazo makes sense is if it happens before the 7-year Tribulation begins, because the apostle Paul repeatedly makes in clear, in at least four Scriptures, that the Bride of Christ is NOT going to experience God’s Wrath (neither during the Time of Jacob’s Trouble or Great Tribulation nor during the first half of the Tribulation Period). The apostle Paul writes the following about the holy, righteous, faithful, obedient, totally sanctified, and absolutely saved Bride of Christ:

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. ~ Romans 5:9, ESV


Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. ~ Ephesians 5:6, ESV

 

and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. ~ 1 Thessalonians 1:10, ESV

 

For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:9, ESV

 

The problem then with far too many believers’ thinking, where the Rapture of the Bride of Christ is concerned, is that far too many of believers have not understood the difference between God’s Plan of Salvation (deliverance, rescue, preservation, safety) for the Bride of Christ who is both the resurrected dead in Christ and the raptured alive in Christ, and His Plan of Salvation for Israel who is the Jewish Time of Jacob’s Trouble saints, the saved Jewish people living in the Promised Land or Israel, at that time. In other words, these saved Jewish people will be the individuals who, as mentioned earlier, are experiencing the prophesied Time of Jacob’s Trouble—the decreed time for bringing Israel’s obstinate rebellion against God to an end, and the decreed time for completing His final discipline and judgment upon Israel (His elect; His chosen Jewish people), as well as the decreed time for making His final judgment upon this world’s unbelieving inhabitants.

Since numerous people don’t seem to know the difference between God’s Plan of Salvation for the Bride of Christ and God’s Plan of Salvation for Israel, it also is important to note here that there is a major difference between God’s Wrath and mankind’s persecution, including the Antichrist’s tribulation or persecution. Wrath is God’s RIGHTEOUS judgment and RIGHTEOUS punishment, which He will pour out on the rebellious UNRIGHTEOUS unbelieving people of this world. Tribulation is the unrighteous persecution of believers by unrighteous unbelievers!

There is no denying, then, that Jesus Christ prophesies that in this world there is going to be much persecution, but based on the above definitions of Wrath and tribulation, it should be obvious that what man does to people will in no way measure up to the Wrath of God, which will be poured out on a sin-sick world. This last point is why ALL of the persecution Christians have suffered from the 1st century A.D., and forward, will not compare to the suffering that happens in the 7 years of Tribulation. This future suffering will be unparalleled, so much so that if Daniel’s 70th Week isn’t sped up, NO ONE will survive it (see Matthew 24:22)!

For sure, as prophesied, during the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (a.k.a., the Great Tribulation), God’s Wrath will increase in frequency and intensity, beginning with the Lamb of God’s Seal judgments (the wrath of the Lamb; see Revelation 6:16), and continuing throughout the entire Time of Jacob’s Trouble until the last bowl judgment is poured out. Thus, based on all of the above provided information about Daniel’s 70th Week, the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, wheat sifting, and so forth, the Pre-Wrath Rapture Theory indisputably suggests that, even if the righteous and sanctified Bride of Christ goes through just the first half of Daniel’s 70th Week, She still would suffer some of God’s Wrath, despite the fact that the Word of God declares the Lord’s righteous and sanctified Bride has NOT been appointed to suffer ANY of God’s Wrath (orge, in the Greek language), because She has been DELIVERED or SAVED from the Wrath to come by Christ Jesus’ finished work on the Cross!

Still, believers in Christ Jesus should not be deceived! Not everyone who professes to be a Christian will be exempted from God’s Wrath. Indeed, many professed Christians who sin willfully and/or who neglect to live the Christian lives they should will suffer some, if not all, of God’s Wrath during Daniel’s 70th Week (the 7 years of Tribulation).  A word to the wise should be sufficient!

Shalom . . . .

For more detailed information on Daniel’s 70th Week, the Tribulation Period, the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, the Rapture (gathering of the Bride of Christ),  and etc., please read these blog entries: Are We Close to the Battle of Armageddon?; Making the Case That the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Is Biblical; Christ’s Elect Is His 144,000 Jewish Evangelists PLUS . . .; The Last Trump: When Our Bodies Are Glorified; and Misunderstandings about ‘Thief in the Night.’

Making the Case That the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Is Biblical

25 Monday Nov 2013

Posted by in Bible Prophecy

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The Rapture

‘In time, throughout that land,’ says Adonai, ‘two-thirds of those in it will be destroyed — they will die, but one-third will remain. That third part I will bring through the fire; I will refine them as silver is refined, I will test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is my people’ and they will say, ‘Adonai is my God.’ ~ Zechariah 13:8-9, CJB

For God has not intended that we should experience his fury, but that we should gain deliverance through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who died on our behalf so that whether we are alive or dead, we may live along with him. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, CJB

Because you did obey my message about persevering, I will keep you from the time of trial coming upon the whole world to put the people living on earth to the test. I am coming soon; hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown. ~ Revelation 3:10-11, CJB 

It boggles the mind how so many people who say they are born again, saved, and being sanctified believers in Christ Jesus also could say that the alive Bride of Christ members will be in the Tribulation Period. It is hard to understand how they could believe that God doesn’t say in His Word that the Lord’s Bride will ESCAPE the Tribulation Period.

These non-pre-Trib Rapture believers argue that if the early Christians suffered persecution, and if Christians today in various places on this Earth also are suffering persecution, just because they are Christians, then that proves that God will NOT remove the Bride of Christ off this Earth so that these believers won’t have to experience the Tribulation Period. Then too, even though the Scriptures are very clear that the genuine Bride of Christ ALREADY has been purified solely by the complete work Christ Jesus did on the Cross, there are so many non-pre-Trib Rapture believers who still think that the Tribulation Period is for purifying Jesus Christ’s Bride—they still believe that His Bride has to endure the Antichrist’s wrath and the Seal, Trumpet, and Bowl judgments before She can become holy and righteous enough to enter Heaven. Say what?

If any of the above claim concerning the Bride of Christ being purified in the Tribulation Period were true, then that would mean that Christ Jesus died for NOTHING, especially if believers’ own shed blood, as a result of their persecution, could purify them and make them holy and righteous enough to enter Heaven! For sure, the Scriptures are very clear. Only the blood of Christ Jesus can purify/cleanse sinners and present them before God as justified, holy, and righteous men and women.  

Furthermore, many non-pre-Trib Rapture believers think that pre-Trib Rapture individuals are escapists who are just trying to avoid persecution and/or any kind of trouble. This appeal to the flesh or the desire to feel comforted, thus, supposedly is the reason why the pre-Trib Rapture lie originally started. Nonsense, because even if pre-Trib believers don’t want to go through the Tribulation Period, globally many of them still are experiencing plenty of persecution or tribulation (great trouble or substantial suffering), and some of them more frequently and profoundly than others.

Now, one of the reasons why non-pre-Trib believers’ arguments are fallacious is that most of the people who either are making one, or two, or all of the above claims are American Christians, the majority of which, to date, have not and are not suffering any physical persecution. Secondly, Christ Jesus prophesies that there would be much persecution in this world, especially in the last days and end times, which is why this world’s current rising tide of persecution eventually will affect ALL believers worldwide, to some extent. Thirdly, what Christ Jesus also prophesies is that the persecution mankind and demonic forces commit on this Earth IN NO WAY will measure up to God’s Wrath or Fury, which He will pour out on this entire Earth. In other words, the Lord is saying that ALL of the persecution Christians have suffered from the first century A.D., and forward, down to this present century, will not compare to the suffering that happens during the seven year Tribulation Period—during Jacob’s Trouble. That suffering will be unprecedented, so much so that the Lord says:

Indeed, if the length of this time had not been limited, no one would survive; but for the sake of those who have been chosen, its length will be limited. ~ Matthew 24:22, CJB

For this last reason, believers must keep in mind that during the Tribulation Period (Jacob’s Trouble), two-thirds of the Jewish people living in Israel will perish (cf. Zechariah 13:8-9), leaving only that Jewish remnant the Antichrist/Dragon follows to the mountains/hills to kill (cf. Matthew 24:15-16; Revelation 12:17). Additionally, believers also should keep in mind that the Scriptures declare that, between the 4th Seal judgment and the 6th Trumpet judgment, over one-half of the world’s total population will have died during the Tribulation Period (see Revelation 6:8 [1/4 dies] and Revelation 9:13-18 [1/3 dies]). These two amounts of human deaths equal 58.33% of the world’s total population, and the Bowl judgments haven’t even begun yet!

If so many people (the Bride of Christ members, disbelievers, and unbelievers) will be dying throughout the Tribulation Period, then how is Christ Jesus keeping His promise to deliver/save/keep His true Bride from God’s Wrath (cf. 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10; Revelation 3:10-11), if they aren’t Raptured until mid-Trib or, even worse, post-Trib? Isn’t it Christ Jesus Himself who sends the angelic messenger to the “church” in Philadelphia of Asia Minor (the Asian part of Turkey) to let the believers in that “church” know that because they have patiently and steadily been faithful and obedient disciples, He (Christ Jesus) would save them from the future mandatory testing that would expose the kinds of persons the people dwelling on the Earth really are? Thus, it should be clear that these Tribulation Earth dwellers the Lord speaks about are not His true Christians—they are not members of the Bride of Christ—but rather they are individuals who have rebelled (sinned) against God and refused to accept the Divine Truth in His Word.

Most important, EXCEPT for the holy and righteous Christ Jesus, upon whom God poured out ALL of His Wrath against sin, where in the Scriptures can it be found that God ever poured out even just an ounce of His Wrath on His righteous people? Again, even if the Rapture of the Bride of Christ happens at mid-Trib, that would mean that the righteous would experience some of God’s Wrath, both from the Antichrist’s persecution and from God’s Seal and Trumpet judgments!

Right here, it is necessary to note the difference between tribulation and wrath. Tribulation is the unrighteous persecution of believers by unbelievers. Put differently, tribulation is persecution directed at believers. In contrast, wrath is the righteous punishment of God poured out on those who reject Him.  In other words, the Wrath of God is His judgment directed at the unrighteous!

By the way, one of the methods Father God uses during the Tribulation Period, when He is pouring out His Fury upon His chosen unbelieving Jewish people and the disbelieving and unbelieving Gentiles, is the Antichrist’s persecution. Although the individuals who become first-time Christians, and those who become truer Christians, during the Tribulation Period, to some degree, will all experience the Antichrist’s persecution, his persecution chiefly will be only part of God’s Wrath, which is meant for Israel and everyone else who rejected God’s preferred Salvation Plan—rejected Jesus the Christ. In a nutshell, the Antichrist and his persecution will be an instrument of God’s Wrath! Furthermore, using the Antichrist to judge and punish Israel is not the first time, in Israel’s long history, that God has decided to use the enemies of Israel to examine and correct His chosen Jewish people!

Back to the mid-Trib Rapture beliefs, wouldn’t those believers who are snatched off the Earth at mid-Trib also be ESCAPING—aren’t they avoiding the most horrific parts of God’s Wrath, since the Word of God describes His Wrath as increasing in intensity and frequency throughout the Tribulation Period, and since the Bowl judgments, which begin during the second half of the Tribulation Period, are the worst of God’s Wrath? So how would believers in a mid-Trib Rapture of the Bride of Christ not be escapists, as well?

Then too, if only those alive believers at the end of the Tribulation Period are snatched off the Earth at post-Trib, right before or at the Lord’s bodily return (His Second Coming), then when do the dead in Christ Jesus get caught up? The apostle Paul clearly says that the Rapture of the Bride of Christ consists of the dead in Christ Jesus, who would rise first, and then those believers who are alive in Christ Jesus would be caught up (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17). Additionally, since the angels also don’t resurrect the dead in Christ Jesus before gathering the people from all of the Earth for judgment, at least the Word of God doesn’t say that the angels resurrect the dead in Christ Jesus at this time, how could the Rapture of the Bride of Christ happen at post-Trib, if the dead in Christ aren’t even mentioned in any of the so-called post-Trib Rapture Scriptures?

Lastly, why would Christ Jesus Rapture His Bride at post-Trib and then immediately bring them back to the Earth so that they could be gathered again from the four corners of the Earth, once the Great Tribulation has ended? Aren’t His saints (the Bride who is wearing white linen—see Revelation 19:6-8, 11-16; Zechariah 14:5b)—returning from Heaven with Him? So why would His Bride, the armies of heaven clothed in white linen, need to be gathered again for judgment? Doesn’t the Bride of Christ stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ Jesus, which is in Heaven? Also, why would the Bride of Christ need to be separated from the goats and tares? Would not the Bride already be separated from them, by virtue of the Rapture?

The Bride of Christ, thus, is not coming back with the Lord, during His bodily return or Second Coming, which also is believed to be The Day of Judgment (see Zechariah 14:1-5) , just to be gathered, separated, and judged all over again. Obviously the post-Trib Rapture belief is the reason why there is no way that the end of the Tribulation Period gathering, which by the way is done by the angels and NOT by Christ Jesus, refers to the gathering of anyone who is NOT a Tribulation survivor, as the Tribulation’s survivors ONLY are those individuals who were never Raptured (the surviving Tribulation sheep and goats/wheat and tares).  

In contrast, the gathering of the saints (the Rapture of the Bride of Christ), or the snatching out of harm’s way (the catching up of the Bride of Christ), which Christ Jesus does Himself, means that this harpazo must happen before the seven year Tribulation Period ever begins, since the Tribulation Period absolutely classifies as the worst kind of “harm’s way”! Once again, it is the apostle Paul who declares not only to the Thessalonians but also to the Romans and Ephesians that the Bride of Christ (every genuinely born again, saved, being sanctified, prepared, faithful, and obedient believer) IS NOT going to experience God’s Wrath (Jacob’s Trouble; the Tribulation Period; see Romans 5:9; Ephesians 5:6; 1 Thessalonians 1:10;  1 Thessalonians 5:9).

Honestly, if the purpose of “the hour of trial/temptation” (see Revelation 3:10) is to expose the kinds of persons the people dwelling on the Earth are, what would God be exposing about the true Bride of Christ, whose spirit or heart already has been born again from above and already has received its new nature, and whose whole spirit, soul, and body are being transformed into the image of Christ? The Bride of Christ already is in the Household of Faith. Each believer already is a child of God. In other words, the Bride of Christ has been made righteous by Grace through Faith in the work Christ Jesus finished while on the Cross. So, again, what is there to expose about Christ Jesus’ Bride? Absolutely nothing!!!

The problem then with far too many believers’ thinking, where the Rapture is concerned, is that they have not understood the difference between God’s Plan of Salvation (deliverance, preservation, safety) for the Bride of Christ—the Raptured saints—and His Plan of Salvation for Israel—the Tribulation saints, which primarily will be the saved Jewish people living in the Promised Land or Israel, at that time. In other words, these saved Jewish people will be the individuals who are experiencing the prophesied Jacob’s Trouble (the Tribulation Period). However, these Tribulation saints also will include the left-behind Jews and Gentiles out of every nation on the Earth. Furthermore, these surviving saved left behinders will be the “elect” people who become purified, sifted like wheat Tribulation believers. More important, they also will be the people who either never accepted Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior, prior to the beginning of the Tribulation Period, or, because of their disbelief, disobedience, unfaithfulness, and/or carelessness, they didn’t prepare themselves for the Lord’s Rapture of His alive Bride (cf. Matthew 25:1-13).

The bottom line is that instead of believers in Christ Jesus being divided about when the Rapture of the Bride of Christ will take place, they should spend more time preparing themselves and looking for Christ Jesus’ appearance in the clouds (the Rapture), while leading as many unbelieving Jewish people and unbelieving and/or disbelieving Gentiles to the Lord, as they possibly can. Furthermore, all believers in Christ Jesus should understand that the prophesied Tribulation Period is not going to be anything anyone can plan to survive. In fact, the only way the people in Noah’s day could have prepared for the Flood was to accept what Noah was preaching: It’s going to rain; the rain will flood the Earth, so repent and walk with God!

For sure, just like God, via His Wrath, which manifested as the Flood, destroyed ALL the wicked, unfaithful, disobedient, unbelieving individuals living on the Earth, but spared the righteous, obedient, and faithful Noah and his family, God, via His Wrath, which will manifest as the Tribulation Period, will destroy the wicked, unfaithful, disobedient, unbelieving individuals who are living on the Earth, but  will spare the holy, righteous, obedient, and faithful Bride of Christ! There can be doubt that God is NOT going to destroy, via His Wrath, His sons and daughters—not after He has given them the gift of Salvation! This Divine Truth is why it just boggles the mind that any believer could think God would do something like that!

Finally, the spiritual stakes are extremely high! That’s why it is important that everyone who is born again, saved, and being sanctified, who also loves God and the Lord, should do his or her best to share the Gospel with the world’s lost souls NOW, and why each believer in Christ should live a bonafide Christlike life, for the entire world to see so that hopefully countless lost souls will long for Salvation and long to achieve the same kind of Christlike lifestyle.

Please view the below videos on the Rapture, Tribulation and the Great Debate. In these two videos, Andre Hendricks makes the case that the Pre-Tribulation Rapture is indeed not only biblical but also the only possible time the Bride of Christ will be removed from the Earth. Be blessed!

The Rapture, Tribulation and the Great Debate, Part 1

The Rapture, Tribulation and the Great Debate, Part 2

Perfect Love Casts Out Fear

25 Sunday Aug 2013

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Agape Love

…we have come to know and trust the love that God has for us. God is love; and those who remain in this love remain united with God, and God remains united with them.  Here is how love has been brought to maturity with us: as the Messiah is, so are we in the world. This gives us confidence for the Day of Judgment.  There is no fear in love. On the contrary, love that has achieved its goal gets rid of fear, because fear has to do with punishment; the person who keeps fearing has not been brought to maturity in regard to love.  We ourselves love now because he loved us first. ~ 1 John 4:16-19, CJB

 

Anything that causes strong feelings of resistance, reluctance, hesitation, dislike, aversion, unwillingness, loatheness, disgust, hatred, insecurity, agitation, agony, anguish, foreboding, self-punishing, worry, uneasiness, humiliation, trepidation, distress, fright, dread, panic, or alarm, and etc., is the kind of fear the apostle John says involves punishment. This kind of fear is not the type that causes godly fear or reverence of God; this fear apostle John says is not in love is not the kind of fear that causes people to not want to offend God.

That’s why, unlike some of this world’s types of love, the God kind of Love doesn’t cause any of the already stated unpleasant feelings. For sure, the God kind of Love never torments (punishes) or distresses those individuals who receive His Love, even though God’s Love is self-sacrificing, patient, kind, compassionate, friendly, generous, good-natured, tender, gentle, calm, warm, sensitive, supportive, fearless, noble, hopeful, trustworthy, honest, easy-going, encouraging, accepting, unfailing, willing, cooperative, agreeable, likeable, fair, merciful, gracious, confident, bold, strong, determined, long-lasting, never-ending, and so forth.

Furthermore, the fear the apostle speaks of repels, but the love he talks about attracts. Even so, there are times when fear and love will coexist, especially when love has not been perfected—when love doesn’t have everything that is needed to make it full; isn’t complete; hasn’t fulfilled its purpose. Put differently, the kind of love that is not “perfect love” is the self-centered, self-absorbed, “me” first kind of love. In contrast, the “perfect” kind of love that has NO fear is pure, mature, and unselfish love.

When love is pure, mature, and unselfish, there absolutely is no fear in this type of love—fear positively cannot exist in pure, mature, and unselfish love. So then, the kind of love apostle John is referring to as “perfect love” is God’s agápe Love (God’s unconditional Love, which He gives to His sons and daughters [cf. Romans 5:5], AND the unconditional love His children give back to Him, as well as give to humanity). Of all of the types of love that are in this world, it is only the bold, confident agápe love (“perfect love”) that can drive out every kind of repellent fear, including the fear of Judgment Day.   

The reason why the Day of Judgment, and every day leading up to this day, does not cause the true believer in Christ Jesus to have fear is because God’s agápe Love inside of every believer’s spirit (heart) is fulfilling its purpose—is giving each believer everything he or she needs to become full or spiritually mature; is giving everything each believer needs to become like Christ Jesus (cf. 1 John 4:17). That’s why every believer can be boldly confident about having no fear of or having no anticipation of punishment (God’s wrath)—just “perfect love.” Put differently, no genuine believer in Christ Jesus will fear the wrath of God on Judgment Day, because God’s agápe Love (“perfect love”) will have been matured (fulfilled, brought to completion) within every born again, saved, justified, imputed righteousness, and sanctified believer. Without a doubt, long before Judgment Day begins, the “perfect love” in each true believer will have driven out all fear of being condemned on that Day of the Lord. Indeed, this Divine Truth is why the Scriptures declare that the “perfect love” in every believer lets each believer know that he or she has passed from death to life (cf. 1 John 3:14).

Now another Divine Truth is that the ones who will have fear of or have anticipation of Judgment Day’s punishment are those individuals who remain in death (cf. 1 John 3:14). They have not passed out of death into life, because the love within them has never been “perfect love.” As a result, they have not matured, spiritually speaking; they haven’t received everything they need to have a love that is full or complete, and their love hasn’t fulfilled the purpose “perfect love” fulfills.

Sadly, while many of these left-behinders might dread God’s wrath to the point that they stop sinning, unfortunately all of them will have failed to realize that their fear of God’s punishment will not and cannot lead them to salvation—their fear of God’s wrath will not and cannot rescue/deliver them from that end-time torment, if they have not been born again, saved, justified, imputed righteousness, and sanctified. Indeed, according to apostle John, it is God’s Love that eventually leads to salvation. John writes: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only and unique Son, so that everyone who trusts in him may have eternal life, instead of being utterly destroyed” (John 3:16, CJB).

More to the point, without regeneration and salvation, there is no way that those who fear God’s punishment could have received God’s agápe Love in their unregenerate spirit. In their dead-to-God spiritual state, there is no way that they could be united with God and, more important, no way that He could unite with them!

The bottom line is that only born again, saved, justified, imputed righteousness, and being sanctified believers who have God’s agápe Love inside their individual heart (spirit) will positively be able to love God with all of their heart (spirit), soul, mind, and might, plus love their neighbors as they love themselves. For sure, because the “perfect love” inside genuine lovers of God and authentic believers in Christ Jesus will cause that good work begun in them to be completed (cf. Philippians 1:6), this Divine Truth is why their “perfect love” also will get rid of any fear of destruction and death they might have had and leave true believers with boldness and confidence about their salvation.

Even though “perfect love” is gentle, kind, teachable, and loving in how it pleads with believers to avoid sin (darkness) by coming to and remaining in the Light, unfortunately there will be many people who will remain in darkness. Many of them are those individuals who will continue to fear God’s punishment, because God’s agápe Love has not been made perfect in them. Sadly, this last fact means God’s unconditional Love isn’t (and never was) inside them.

A word to the wise should be sufficient. Amen!

Christ’s Elect Is His 144,000 Jewish Evangelists PLUS . . .

01 Thursday Aug 2013

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The Giving of the Seven Bowls of Wrath;The First Six Plagues,Matthias Gerung (1500–1570)

The Giving of the Seven Bowls of Wrath / The First Six Plagues, Matthias Gerung (1500–1570)

And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect’s sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days. ~ Mark 13:20, KJV

And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven. ~ Mark 13:27, KJV

And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. ~ Matthew 24:22, KJV

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. ~ Matthew 24:24, KJV

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. ~ Matthew 24:31, KJV

 

 

One of the primary reasons why many followers of Christ Jesus do not believe in a pre-Tribulation Rapture is because they think that Christ Jesus is prophesying about the destiny of His Bride (the Body of Christ; The CHURCH), when He uses in His Olivet Discourse the word “elect.” The English word “elect” actually is eklektos in the Greek language, which is an adjective that means “choice” or “selected.” Therefore, the “elect” Christ Jesus is speaking about in Matthew 24:22, Matthew 24:24, Matthew 24:31, and also in Mark 13:20 and Mark 13:27 clearly refers to the “choice” individuals who will be living on the Earth at the end of the Tribulation Period.

Now “choice” (elect) definitely is a description God uses for His Jewish people, and a description the apostles use for the Bride of Christ. That is why it is important to note here that one of the main reasons why so many believers see the “elect” Christ Jesus speaks of in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 as the Bride of Christ is because they fail to distinguish between God’s plan for Israel and His plan for the Bride of Christ. These believers often forget that at the time Christ Jesus is speaking to His Jewish disciples in the Olivet Discourse that there was no Bride of Christ—no Christians! For sure, the Lord had not yet been crucified and resurrected, and the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen upon His Jewish disciples.

Thus, when believers declare that the “elect” in Matthew 24:22, 24, 31 and Mark 13:20, 27 definitively is the Bride of Christ, they actually have made a colossal interpretive mistake. The huge mistake they’ve made is taking the Olivet Discourse, which is a conversation a Jewish Jesus is having with His Jewish disciples, and then reading back into this conversation the destiny of the Bride of Christ (Body of Christ or The CHURCH). The Book of Acts explains exactly when the Body of Christ/Bride of Christ/The CHURCH/The Ekklesia was established on this Earth, and that was 10 days after the resurrected Jesus ascended to Heaven, when God then sent His Holy Spirit to fill the disciples (see Acts 1-2).

Without doubt, the Lord’s conversation with His Jewish disciples still today is NOT about the Bride of Christ per se. His conversation is about the destruction of the Jewish Temple and the Jewish city of Jerusalem, the signs of the end of the Age, and the sign of His Parousia, as in the sign of His coming (when He will establish His Messianic Kingdom for His Jewish people)!

The clear interpretation is that in the Olivet Discourse the Lord is focusing on Israel—His Jewish people as a whole. Now there are passages in Matthew 24 that have promises in them that the Bride of Christ also will receive. For example, the passages about two men being in the field, with one taken one left; and two women grinding at the mill, with one taken, one left certainly describe the promise of a rapture, so from these passages believers can imagine what The Rapture will be like for Christ Jesus’ Bride, who is raptured before the Tribulation Period begins. However, the images in these passages also depict God’s rapture plan for His Jewish people who, just before the start of and during the seven year Tribulation Period, will come to believe in Christ Jesus, and some of them will be raptured. The same is true of Matthew 25. The image of a Bridegroom coming for His Bride, with some virgins being caught up and some being left behind, can apply to the Bride of Christ (The CHURCH) and to God’s Bride (Israel).

Then too, unlike the many passages in which the apostle Paul calls the Bride of Christ “saints,” or in the verses that the apostle Peter calls Her the “chosen” and the “elect,” the “elect” ones Christ Jesus refers to in Matthew 24:22, Matthew 24:24, Matthew 24:31, the “elect” and “chosen” He refers to in Mark 13:20, and the “elect” in Mark 13:27 are not the Bride of Christ’s saints. The saints, in this case, the ones who survive the Tribulation, are the “elect” and “chosen” the Lord is speaking about in His Olivet Discourse, but they, first and foremost, are those end-time Jewish people the Lord says should flee to the mountains, once they see the prophesied abomination of desolation, because Jacob’s Trouble (cf. Jeremiah 30:7) or the Great Tribulation is about to take place (cf. Matthew 24:21).

As earlier mentioned, in the New Testament, the English word translated as “elect” or “chosen” is the Greek word eklektos, which, once again, is an adjective that actually means “choice” or “selected.” So Matthew 24:22 really should read as: “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the choice [ones’] sake those days shall be shortened.” Then too, a better translation for Matthew 24:24 would be: “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very choice [ones].”

Where Matthew 24:31 is concerned, Christ Jesus definitely is making it very clear in this verse that the “elect” He mentions in Matthew 24:22, 24 mainly is the Jews who have gone through the Great Tribulation (Jacob’s Trouble). Borrowing from Isaiah 11:12, the Lord says, “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” (Matthew 24:31 KJV). Once again, “…his elect…” should read “…his choice [ones]…”

Be that as it may; there can be no doubt in the above quoted verse that Christ Jesus is referencing the gathering of the Jews as prophesied in Isaiah 11:12, which reads this way: “And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth” (KJV). Put differently, the prophet Isaiah is foretelling of a time when the ten tribes of Israel (the outcasts) and the two tribes of Judah (the dispersed) will be gathered together from the “wings of the Earth” and restored as one whole nation.

Since Christ Jesus is referencing this prophesied gathering of the Jews in Matthew 24:31, which Isaiah 11:12 vividly describes, this is an excellent reason why Matthew 24:31 is not about The Rapture of the Bride of Christ, even though Messianic Jews are included in the Bride of Christ. More accurately, Matthew 24:31 obviously is about the Lord sending out His angels at the end of the Tribulation primarily to gather His now believing entire nation of Israel. Since this is an end of the Age gathering, there no doubt also will be some believing Gentiles out of many nations included, but neither these surviving “elect” Jews nor any of the surviving “elect” Gentiles are the Bride of Christ.

Additionally, the fact that it is the Lord’s angels who are gathering those Tribulation Period’s survivors whom the Lord calls His “elect” should alert believers to the fact that this gathering is not The Rapture of the Bride of Christ, because The Rapture involves the Lord Himself descending from Heaven and snatching away His Bride! Angels have nothing to do with getting the Lord’s Bride together, even though She also is His “elect” or “choice” one!

Next is another verse in which some translators have wrongly used the English words “elect” and “chosen.”  That verse is Mark 13:20. In fact, it really sounds redundant to say, in the KJV of this verse, “for the sake of the elect…whom he has chosen.” For this reason, a better translation would be: “And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the choice [ones’] sake, whom he hath [commissioned], he hath shortened the days.”

Like in the Matthew 24 verses, the English word “elect” in Mark 13:20 really is the Greek adjective eklektos, which once again means “choice” or “selected.” However, the English word “chosen” in this Mark 13 verse is the Greek verb eklegomai, which means “commissioned” or “appointed,” as in having a specific responsibility to fulfill.

Clearly it is the “choice” 144,000 sealed Jewish evangelists who are the ones who will be given the very important as well as specific commission to fulfill during the Tribulation Period, and not the Bride of Christ or THE CHURCH! Beginning in the Old Testament, for the “choice” individuals who qualified for an “appointed” or “commissioned” office or responsibility, such as the judges for Israel, the Temple’s Levitical priests, Joshua’s warriors, and so on, they knew that their office or responsibility was expected to be fulfilled to the best of their ability. The same is true about the New Testament’s “choice” (elect) Jewish people. When they qualified for a commissioned or appointed office or responsibility, they knew it always came with the obligation of fulfilling it to the best of their ability. Therefore, there is no doubt that this fulfill to the best of their ability is the same obligation that comes with the commission to evangelize the end-time world, which is why the 144,000 sealed Jewish evangelists are the only ones who could qualify as Christ Jesus’ “choice” or elect.

The point here is that Christ Jesus NEVER was chosen from among many other possible Sons to be God’s “choice” One, for God appointed Him because Christ Jesus was the ONLY “choice” One (cf. Luke 9:35, KJV) and therefore the only worthy One—the Only begotten One. Similarly the 144,000 sealed Jewish evangelists NEVER will be chosen among many possible Jewish evangelists to convert the lost world during the Tribulation Period. God will commission them, because they will be the ONLY “choice” ones worthy to receive God’s seal. 

Moreover, understanding who really is worthy to be considered the “choice” ones who will be the “elect” Christ Jesus speaks about in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 without doubt is settled in the aphorism “…many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14, KJV). The Lord uses this particular aphorism in the parable of the King’s Wedding Feast (cf. Matthew 22:1-14, KJV). Once again, there is a better translation of Matthew 22:14, and this better translation is “…many are summoned, but few are choice.”

The crux of the parable of the King’s Wedding Feast is that the “choice” ones are not “choice” because the King “chose” them, for in the parable of the King’s Wedding Feast the King (God) didn’t choose anyone. He sent an invitation to one entire group, and after everyone rejected His invitation, the King (God) extended the invitation to every person His servants could find (good and bad). The point here is that the few “choice” (chosen; eklektos) individuals in this parable are “choice” only because it is by the Grace of God they have responded correctly to the King’s invitation or summons. Their ‘right’ response not only is accepting the King’s invitation to the feast, which is done by accepting His Son as Lord and Savior, but also is coming to the feast wearing the appropriate heart clothing—having the right inward attitudes (a born-again spirit), which manifests outwardly in their holy and righteous deeds.

In other words, the parable of the King’s Wedding Feast proves that it always was God’s Plan that, even though He appointed the Jews to be His “choice” people and Israel His “choice nation,” because the Jews, as a whole, failed to fulfill their invitation’s responsibility, God then appointed the Bride of Christ (Jews and Gentiles) to be His new “choice” people (cf. 1 Peter 2:9, KJV). What’s more, after the Bride of Christ is raptured, God then will appoint the 144,000 Jewish men to be His “choice” people. They will be a remnant of the Jews living in the Tribulation Period who will have accepted God’s Grace, will be redeemed and therefore will be blameless (“without fault”) virgins (“without blemish”) who have not been defiled by women, and who will be followers of the Lamb (cf. Revelation 14:3-4).  

Finally, as earlier mentioned, in the Old Testament, God promises that He will save Jacob (both Israel and Judah, or the entire nation of Israel), out of the time of great trouble, Jacob’s Trouble, or the Great Tribulation (cf. Jeremiah 30:7). Then in Jeremiah 30:10-11, God adds the following promises:

Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid. For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet I will not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished. ~ KJV

In the above verses, God is confirming that He not only will discipline His Jewish people but also He will rescue them from the Great Tribulation—save them from total annihilation. God also promises to destroy all of His Jewish people’s enemies so that the Jews never will have to fear them again. Additionally, God promises to return His Jewish people to their Promised Land of Israel where they will live in peace. Since God has yet to fulfill these promises, it should be evident that the “elect” that Christ Jesus is speaking about in Matthew 24:22, 24, 31 and Mark 13:20, 27 only can be the Tribulation’s surviving elect (“choice”) Jews. However, some surviving Gentiles also will be the elect (“choice”) ones who are rescued from total destruction.

For sure, both the Tribulation’s “elect” Jews and Gentiles will be those believers in Christ who are sold out for Him, either because of the 144,000 sealed Jewish evangelists/servants’ preaching or the preaching of those once unwatchful and unprepared believers who got left behind. Put differently, the “elect” at the end of the Tribulation will be believers who remain loyal to Christ Jesus, especially when they face death. Clearly, the believers who will face martyrdom in the Tribulation Period definitely would be God’s “choice” ones, but so would the specific remnant of believing Jews who find safety from the Antichrist’s persecution and God’s wrath (God’s judgment on the unbelieving world and His discipline of Israel during the Great Tribulation).

According to the Scriptures, around mid-Tribulation, a remnant of the Tribulation’s Jewish “elect” will be the ones who flee to the hills. Of the numbers of the “elect” Jews and Gentiles who do not hide in the hills, the Scriptures warn that they must be very careful not to be found by the Antichrist, because he either will force them to take the Mark of the Beast, or he will behead them. These “elect” who did not flee to the hills also must be aware of all the false christs and aware of all the other deceptions that are initiated during the Tribulation, because these deceptions could cause them to abandon Christ Jesus. Their goal should be to survive the Great Tribulation and be ready to stand and worthy of standing before Christ Jesus as His wheat/sheep, when the Lord makes His bodily return on the Day of the Lord.

Now, since the Lord’s Second Coming is all about destroying the wicked (wiping them off this Earth), it also should be evident that the Bride of Christ is not Christ Jesus’ “elect” in any of the abovementioned Matthew 24 and Mark 13 verses. The definitive Scriptures that prove the Bride of Christ won’t go through the Tribulation are Isaiah 26:19-21 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18. Not only do these verses prove that the Groom comes for His Bride and raptures Her before the Tribulation Period begins but also these verses have the same order of events, which are: 1. The dead rise first; 2. The alive righteous individuals are snatched away, then hidden behind a shut door; and 3. The Lord comes to punish the world and/or God pours out His wrath.

Then there are the verses in 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3. Where 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 is concerned with The Rapture and the HOPE of being rescued from the wrath to come, 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 is concerned with judgment or the wrath of God. That apostle Paul has changed the subject from hope to judgment means he is now speaking about the Day of the Lord in 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3, which is a day that will not include The Rapture!

Instead of being the day of The Rapture, the Day of the Lord is the day Christ Jesus will send His angels out to gather the “elect” or “choice” survivors of the Tribulation Period, primarily the Jews and those left-behind unprepared, unwatchful believers whose lives needed to be sifted like wheat. Now, the only ones the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night for are the Tribulation’s surviving unbelievers, because they are living in darkness, and more likely than not they are not aware of what the Scriptures say about the Day of the Lord. More important, the Day of the Lord is not The Rapture of the Bride of Christ, because the Day of the Lord is mainly about the outpouring of God’s punishment/discipline on Israel and the outpouring of terror and death on Israel’s enemies (chiefly the Arabic nations).

The bottom line, once again, is that the “elect” Christ Jesus speaks of in Matthew 24:22, 24, 31 and Mark 13:20, 27 is not the Bride of Christ. This “elect” is primarily the Tribulation’s surviving Jewish people. As earlier stated, to declare that Christ Jesus definitively is speaking about His Bride in said chapters is a colossal interpretive mistake. Why is that such a huge mistake? Well, it is because the Olivet Discourse is a conversation the Jewish Jesus is having with His Jewish disciples about the destiny of the Jewish Temple, the Jewish city of Jerusalem, and the Jewish people as a whole. Forgetting who the Lord’s audience is and the questions His Jewish disciples ask Him to answer invariably will lead to the usual oversight—mistaking the Bride of Christ for the Tribulation’s “elect.”

The Bride of Christ absolutely is not the Tribulation’s “elect,” because the Scriptures show that it is the spiritually blind Jewish people, the unbelieving Gentile masses, and the unprepared, unwatchful Body of Christ members who are the ones who will experience the Tribulation Period. Where’s the Bride of Christ during the Tribulation Period? She’s in Heaven with Her Groom, because the Bride of Christ (the faithful, obedient, prepared, and watchful Body of Believers) is raptured before the seven year Tribulation Period ever begins! A word to the wise should be sufficient. Amen

Be True Reflections Of Living By Faith Believers

27 Tuesday Jan 2009

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It is absolutely necessary for the true sons and daughters of God to live by His faith. This living by faith principle is especially applicable to God’s children, because Christ has justified them, which means they are now positioned in right standing with God. Moreover, God’s children know that only the faith of God in them, through Jesus the Christ, will secure for them their eternal life with God.

Furthermore, without His faith, by which individuals believe on Jesus the Christ as their Savior, people will be under the curse of the Law, which is God’s judgment. Under the Law, God’s judgment (wrath/punishment) for ALL sin is death. Since no one is able to keep the Law’s statutes and commandments without the aid of the Holy Spirit, when any person breaks one commandment, then he or she is guilty of breaking EVERY commandment and, thus, must experience God’s wrath.

Therefore, believers know that it is only through Christ that they will be able to live eternally in the presence of God. Believers also know that if they hadn’t accepted Christ, which makes it possible for them to live their lives in accordance to the measure of God’s faith given to them, they, too, still would be under the Law and subject to death—both a physical death and the spiritual second death. Individuals’ spiritual second death will be their eternal separation from God, because their punishment for not accepting Christ is to be damned forever to live in the Lake of Fire.

Let us who believe no longer give God our lip service, but let us totally surrender our lives to the ONLY One who can ensure us that we will live eternally with Him, as His spiritual children and true worshippers. Let our lives be the true reflection of His Light in us (the Holy Spirit), who helps us to be an effective ‘light’ in this currently dark world. AMEN.

“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36, KJV; cf. Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:10).