Of all the books ever written, the Bible is by far the most controversial and most misunderstood. Why? Partly because of the diversities of language barriers it has had to overcome to arrive at one conclusion. Partly because men have inserted their own private interpretations in an attempt to find the truth. But mostly because our enemy, Satan, does not want us to be of ONE mind and in ONE accord with the word. He knows that, if we were ONE people, speaking ONE message, believing in ONE Lord, his efforts to divide and conquer would be fruitless.
One of the subjects that Christians and other theologians have wrestled with for centuries is whether there will be a rapture, a catching away of the Christians before the Great Tribulation. There's seemingly enough scriptural ammunition to support any and all theories being offered, but they can't all be right. Can they? Is it possible that God's gonna accept all of these doctrines as truth? There's probably some truth in all of them, but to separate the truth from the un-truth is the issue before us.
Matthew 24:21-22 - "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened."
Jesus was in a discourse with his disciples, instructing them of the things that would come to pass before His return to the earth, those things they should expect before the end would come. He told them in verses 4-13 to be careful that they were not deceived by the false prophets and false doctrines that would arise, teachings that would sound as original as the truth, but with enough watering down and dilution to lead people astray.
He told them that "many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many." He also said that "there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect".
Question: Who are these elect spoken of in this scripture? Are they not the body of Christ, the children of God? Are they not, according to this scripture, still here when these things are happening? Why then do we continue to teach that the saints will be already gone when these things happen? 2 Timothy 4:3-4 tells us that "the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables". It's because that's not a popular message and most people just don't want to hear it. The truth is NEVER popular.
Titus 1:10-11 - "For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake"
Most people don't seem to worry about the end of the world until something dreadful happens. The loss of a loved one. A near death experience. A horrible nightmare. We saw an entire nation humbled before God on September 11, 2001 when those airplanes flew into the Twin Towers. Church attendance immediately increased nationwide as people began to seek God for comfort and assurance. Why? Because just the thought that it could have been any one of them, at any time, in any place, and life is gone forever. Without warning, without reason, and without recourse - almost 7,000 people perished from that one event.
The casual, carnal, lukewarm lifestyle that many Christians live will be for their own destruction. They'll play around, play around, and play around until the day of Christ and, just like those 5 foolish virgins, they'll lose their inheritance in the kingdom.
Revelation 12:12 - "Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea, for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time"
Now let's establish one very important fact before we continue: The Great Tribulation is not a time for Christ to punish unbelievers, but a time when our enemy, Satan, will exact persecution against the body of Christ. Some have thought that Jesus would take us away BEFORE He brought tribulation upon the world, but that's not what's gonna happen. As we approach the end, as Satan realizes that his time is drawing near, he will strive to destroy anyone and anything that names the name of Jesus Christ. Matthew 24:9 says that "then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake".
Matthew 24:29-30 - "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory"
Notice the scriptures indicate that Christ comes "after the tribulation of those days", NOT BEFORE! We must always follow the truth and not to deceive ourselves, no matter what we really want to believe. There is no mentioning that Jesus will come and take the church BEFORE the tribulation, but because of the severity upon His bride DURING the tribulation, the days would be shortened so that we wouldn't all be destroyed. Some of us will be killed, martyred because of our heritage in God, but not all. Verse 31 tells us that Jesus is going to send His angels with the sound of a great trumpet and will gather His bride, to deliver them from one end of heaven to the other.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 - "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. 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: 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."
There is NO CONTRADICTION demonstrated between this scripture and that which was spoken by Christ in Matthew 24. None whatsoever. Those of us who are alive at the time of Christs' return will have to wait a moment while those who were already dead are being changed from mortal into immortality. We would have to wait a moment while they are being fitted with their glorified bodies, and then we would be fitted into ours. Glory Hallelujah! I'm getting so excited just thinking about it.
The scripture is merely saying that, AFTER the tribulation, when Jesus comes back for His bride, this would be the order in which we would ascend into the heavens, and there we will remain with the Lord. We're not coming back to earth to fight against the devil and his angels. Thank God that we're not coming back here AT ALL!
Wow! We are looking to inhabit "new heavens" and a "new earth" where righteousness dwells. There is no righteousness attributed to fleshly things. Jesus Christ will destroy the earth as we know it with the brightness of His coming. Everything will vanish away. Nothing will be left here. NOTHING! In order for Him to create a place where righteousness dwells, everything associated with the flesh must be destroyed, even as we must also destroy every fleshing thing that separates us from the love of God. The only way for Jesus to quicken our mortal bodies is that we must first mortify the deeds of our body (Romans 8:11-13).
2 Peter 3:10-13 - "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."
I, too, would love to believe that I won't be subjected to the wrath of Satan at that time. Honestly, I don't want to be here when it happens. I pray that I am not. But, I won't lie to myself either. I won't lie to you. If you think that you'll be gone when this happens, then you won't prepare yourself for it. And everything Jesus taught was to prepare us for these times that we not be caught by surprise and unaware.
You've heard of the mark of the beast, the anti-Christ, and all these dreadful things. You've heard that all those who worship the beast shall receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads which allows them to buy or sell during that time. Well, guess what? Many have already received Satan's mark and just haven't yet realized it. As they continually reject Jesus and His gospel, they're creating a dependency upon Satan as their lord and master. But you know what else?
Revalation 7:1-3 - "And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of God in their foreheads."
The children of the kingdom shall be sealed with the Power of the Holy Ghost so that we'll be able to stand against all the wiles of the enemy in that day. We're being covered by the Blood of Jesus just as the doorposts were covered by the blood of a sacrificed lamb before the children of Israel left Egyptian bondage. God will not leave us defenseless, as some would suppose. We will overcome the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and the words of our testimonies. We've been given power over all the power of the enemy, and we can't be defeated. God will send His Christ to deliver the bride blameless, spotless, and perfected through her trials and tribulations.
Matthew 25:13 - "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh"
I am not a doomsday preacher, but one who realizes the importance that we know the truth. And, I would rather prepare myself just in case we were to be here for the tribulation, praying all the while that I could escape it, than to abide "unprepared" and end up surprised when it happened. It's far better to have oil and not need it, than to need oil, and not have it. Amen.
Some additional reference scriptures:
1 Thessalonians 5:1-5
2 Peter 1:19-2:9
Revelation 7:9-17
Daniel 12
