The
Case for the Rapture of the Church
Preceded
by a Warning to the World (?)
Could
this be what is to come.....soon?
(With
Biblical References)
April
20, 2007
By
Randy
It
is my assertion that a HUGE event may soon happen that will capture the
attention of the entire world. The
news channels will be focused on this news, and only this news, 24 hours
a day. Speculation will be
rampant about what this event means, and what lies ahead.
With 24 hour live news channels; with cell phone cameras and video
cameras everywhere; with U-Tube and the Internet reaching every part of
the planet these days; the world will be in a state of panic!
What
is this event? There may be
hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of people who were once dead, but
are now roaming the earth. They
will be appearing to their families and friends, telling an incredible tale
of how they have been raised from the dead.
The world will want to know how this came to be.
And
the world will turn to Christians who have been waiting for this event told in Bible prophecy for the answers.
These answers will come directly from the Bible.
For God has foretold of this event since the beginning of mankind.
And the world, for the most part, will still NOT believe.
Luke 16: 19-31 The Parable
of the Rich Man and Lazarus
The
rich man, who is in Hades and Lazarus who is in Heaven, said to Abraham,
I beg you to send Lazarus to my fathers house, for I have five brothers;
that he (Lazarus) may testify to them, lest they also come to this place
of torment. But Abraham
said to him, They have Moses and the prophets, (in our day we have the
Holy Scriptures in the Bible) let them hear them.
And the rich man said, No, father Abraham; but if one goes to
them from the dead, they will repent.
But Abraham said to him, If they do not hear Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.
What
has happened?
IF
there IS a warning to the world before the Rapture of the Church, I believe
the dead in Christ WILL rise FIRST,and will walk among us for 10
days. This will certainly be
a great warning that ALL people on the
earth will be witnessing and talking about.
1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17 For
the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of
an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.
And the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
But,
how can this happen? Well,
it has happened before. First,
Jesus Christ rose from the dead. This
is well documented in the New Testament.
And, there is an incredible single sentence that tells us that many
people were raised from their graves after Jesus was resurrected.
Look at:
Matthew
27: 52-53 and the
graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep
were raised, and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went
into the holy city and appeared to many.
What
do you think those risen dead people were doing after they were raised?
They were telling their family
and friends and many more what was happening.EXACTLY what is happening
again, right NOW.
(IF
there is this final warning.)
Ten
days after they rose with Christ on Ascension Day, 3000 people accepted
Christ on Pentecost. Many of
these people were probably convinced to do so because they saw and talked
with some of these who had been raisedAND
from having also seen and heard Christ as well.
Why
now?
Israel
1948 Matthew 24: 32-35
The Parable of the fig tree.
The
fig tree always represents the nation of Israel
in the Bible. Jesus was teaching
His disciples Now learn
this parable from the fig tree. When
its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves,
you know that summer is near.
So you also, when you see all these things (spoken of earlier in
this
chapter) know that it is near even at the doors! Assuredly I
say to you, this generation will by no
means pass away till all these things take place.
Here
Jesus is talking about the rebirth of the nation of Israel,
which took place in May, 1948. Incredibly,
after almost 2000 years of the Jewish nation being scattered around the
world after their expulsion from Israel
in 70AD when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem;
and after the devastation of 6,000,000 Jews in the Holocaust during World
War 2; Israel
was reborn in a day. This
was prophetically proclaimed in the Old Testament in Isaiah 66: 8;
Shall a nation be born in a day?
This birthof a nation came right after the travail of the
Holocaust. The Holocaust was similar to the birth pangs of a woman in labor.
No birth can occur until labor pains have occurred.
June, 1967 So
if the birth was in 1948, Israel
was still a teenager at the time of the 6
Day Warin June,
1967. It was in this war that Israel
fought for her life (again) and with this, won back the holy
City of Jerusalem
and the Temple
Mount
Israels
most holy place where the Jewish temple was
before it was destroyed for the second time in 70AD.
Unfortunately, they gave BACK the Temple
Mount in order to keep peacewith the Arab world.
But have these last 40 years brought peaceto
Israel?
Certainly not.
40 years Since June, 1967.
Twice before the Jewish
people have had a 40 year wait until something
good, or bad, has happened to them, after they DID NOT DO what God
had planned for them.
The
first was after the Exodus from Egypt.
God had led them miraculously to the Promised Land. And they sent
12 spies in to survey the land and see what their needs would be to take
the land from the current inhabitants.
Do you remember what happened next?
(You can read this in Numbers, chapter 13 and 14).
Of course, after 40 days spying out the Promised Land, 10 of the
12 spies said the land could not be taken and the people believed them;
even though they had already seen God so many miracles to secure their release
in Egypt
and the parting of the Red
Sea!
And they cried against Moses:
Numbers 14: 2-3 If
only we had died in the land
of Egypt.
Or if only we had died in the wilderness!
Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that
our wives and our children should
become victims? ..Would it not be better if we returned to Egypt?
And what did God do to them?
Numbers 14:26
And the Lord said How long shall I bear with this evil congregation
who complains
against Me? 14:29
All of you.from twenty years old and above..shall by no means enter
the
land which I swore I would make you dwell in. (31) But your little
ones, whom you said would be
victims, I will bring in..but as for you and your sons, shall
be.in the wilderness for 40 years and
bear the brunt of your infidelityone year for each of the forty
days your spies spied out the land,
and you shall know My rejection.
And
an entire generation of the Jews, from age 20 and up, had to die in the
wilderness before they would enter the Promised Land, because they did NOT
do as God had directed. They did NOT enter and keepthe land they
were destined to have from God.
The
second time 40 years lapsed was after Christs death.
Christ was crucified in 30AD.
And, 40 years later, Jerusalem
and the Temple
were destroyed just as Christ had prophesied, "Jesus left the Temple
and was going away, when His disciples came to point out to Him the buildings
of the Temple. But He answered
them, "You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not
be left here one stone upon another, that will not be thrown down." (Matthew
24:1-2 RSV)
It
came to pass 40 years later and the Jewish people were scattered out of
Israel,
not to return until they returned in 1948.
And
now, the third 40 year period of time is at hand.
As shown in Matthew 24 v35:
this generation will by no means pass away till all these things
take place. The question
for those of us watching for Christs return for His Bride, the church,
(the believers in Jesus Christ), had
been: How long is a generation?
Many
people have thought that 40 years was the right time, but from WHEN do you
start counting? From the recreation
of the state of Israel
in 1948? If so, then 1988 would
have been the date. And, many
people were looking for that possibility in 1988.
But my contention, as well as many others, is that 1967 is the right
starting date for the 40 year countdown.
For it was in June 1967 when they took back Jerusalem AND the Temple
Mount, but GAVE the Temple Mount BACK for political reasons.
In other words, once again they did NOT do what God had told them
to do. For if they had kept
the Temple
Mount, they could have rebuilt the third Temple
of God!
So,
for 40 years, Israel
has NOT had peace. And in 1993, they tried for peace with the Oslo Agreement;
an idea that would never happen with such an unlikely peace partner: Arafat.
And 7 years later, that totally fell apart when Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon visited the Temple
Mount.
How interesting that simply visitingthe Temple
Mount
began the Intifada that has killed so many Israelis (and Palestinians)
in the last 7 years. And this
40 years ends THIS year.very very soon!
Other Signs: Matthew
24: This is the
most prophetic chapter in the Bible.
And
why is Israel
so very critical to the world today?
The daily world news seems to dwell on the events in Israel
more and more. People around
the world think that Israel,
(the Jews), are the biggest threat to world peace for every other nation.
What a mistaken perception.
But the Bible predicted it in the Old Testament,
Zechariah 12: 3 And
it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone
for all
peoples;
all who would heave it away will surely be cut to pieces, though
all nations of the earth be
gathered against it.
In Matthew 24, v3, Jesus is asked by His Disciples Tell us, when
will these things be? And what
will
Be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?
In
the balance of the book of Matthew, Jesus lays out what to expect just before
He returns for the second time.
And
Jesus speaks of the fig tree and says, v32 Now learn of the parable from
the fig tree. When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves,
you know that summer is near. So
you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near at the
doors! Assuredly I say to you,
this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.
These are certainly the days of which Jesus speaks about!
Why
now.during the season of Passover, Easter, through Ascension Day and
Pentecost?
Christ
left this earth on Ascension Day, 40 days after the end of Passover/Easter.
I believe the others who were also raised from the dead when Christ
was risen, went with Christ on Ascension Day as well.
And 10 days later was Pentecost (the Feast of Weeks for the Jews)
when the Holy Spirit was given unto man.
I
believe, as do many others who
are watching in these End Times, that Gods PROPHETIC TIMECLOCK will started
up again right where it left off.
Jesus Christ fulfilled the first Jewish spring feasts during His
first coming. The Holy Spirit
was then given to man on Pentecost, 10 days after His Ascension.
And the Holy Spirit will be removed from this earth in the Rapture
along with the Believers (dead and alive), leaving the rest of humanity
behind to deal with the Tribulation.
And
the fall feasts will be fulfilled with Christs Second Coming in 7 years.
(There
is an entire series of discussions about the first Coming of Christ fulfilling
the Jewish Spring Feasts and that the fall feasts will be fulfilled by Christs
Second Coming. You can find
these on the internet in various places.)
How
did some people know to be watching for this event?
How
come everyone didnt know?
For
the most part, very few people have been watching and waiting for Christs
soon return over the past 60 years; even though the signs have been all
around us; from the rebirth of Israel,
and everything else since 1948.
As
the contributors to www.FiveDoves.com can attribute over the last 10 years,
whenever any of us talks with other people about the possible soon return
of Jesus Christ (talking with non-Christians as well as Christians) most
everyone thinks we are really crazy; or worse, just religious idiots.
2 Peter: 3: 3-7
Knowing this first: that SCOFFERS will come in the last days, walking
according to their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His
coming? For since the fathers
fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.
When
Jesus Christ came the first time, there were a few people who were watching
and waiting for that event.
The
three Wise Men knew to be watching:
Matthew 2: Now after
Jesus was born in Bethlehem.behold three wise men from the East came
to Jerusalem saying Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For
we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship him.
And
in Luke 2: 25 and 26, Simeon
and Anna were watching for Jesus because it had been revealed to them by
the Holy Spirit that they would see Him before they died.
And
as for us in these last days, Jesus Christ said, (paraphrase), For those
of you who watch, I will not come as a thief in the night.
In other words, YOU who are watching all of these signs in the last
days WILL NOT be surprised when it all comes to pass.
Thessalonians 5:1 But
of the times and the seasons,
brethren, ye have no need that I
write unto you.
For yourselves know
perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
For when they shall
say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail
upon a woman with child;
and they shall not escape. But ye,
brethren, are not in darkness,
that that day should
overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the
children of the day:
we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
Therefore let us not sleep, as
do others; but let us
watch and be sober.
Matthew 16: 2-3 Here Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for NOT knowing
the signs of the times for
Christs first coming: He said to them, When it is evening
you say It will be fair weather, for
the sky is red; and in the morning, it will be foul weather today
for the sky is red and
threatening. Hypocrites!
You know how to discern the face of the sky, but
you cannot
discern the signs of the times.
So
if a person has been led by the Holy Spiritto be watching in these
last days you can easily see the signs; the MOST IMPORTANT of which.the
one that really starts the clock running again..was the recreation of
the State of Israel in 1948.
What
Comes Next?
I
believe this warning, (the dead in Christ walking among us-IF WE GET ONE)
will only last for a short time; probably 10 day, until the day of Pentecost.
1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17 For
the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of
an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.
And the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
It
had always seemed unique to me that the Scriptures said, the dead in
Christ shall rise first.It made me expect that there would be,
or could be, some period of time before we all, the dead in Christ
as well as the living Believers in Christ (then we who are alive) met Him
in the clouds.
Thus,
I expect we only have 10 days until that event takes place: the Rapture
of the Church. In other words,
the next thing that happens will be on Pentecost.
Even the Holy Spirit will be taken away from this world and those
who are then left behindwill have 7 years in a period of time known
as: Jacobs Trouble.It is also known as the Tribulation.
(Remember,
the Rapture of the Church is NOT the Second Coming.
In the Second Coming Christ will physically come back to earth for
the 1000 year Millennial reign of Christ on earth.
This follows the Tribulation which comes right after the Rapture
of the Church. I know, it does
get confusing at first glance. But
trust me.trust GOD.this is what lies ahead!)
Look at this simple Time Table:
1948 Nation of Israel born again
1967 Seven Day War, and Temple
Mount given back to the Arabs
2007 ????? Rapture of
the Church the dead in Christ, the Believers in Christ, and the Holy
Spirit
7 Years of the Tribulation
The Second Coming of Christ
And..the Millennial
Kingdom, where Christ reigns
on earth 1000 year, with peace
How
can YOU escape these thingsthat are coming?
My
favorite Parable from Christ: The
Parable of the Laborers.
THIS
message could be meant for YOU reading this right now:
Matthew 20: 1-16 The
owner of a vineyard chose to pay ALL
of the day laborers, those who worked all day and those who joined in toward
the end of the day, the SAME wage.
In other words, he gave them all the SAME Reward.
(ie, Whether they had believed in Christ ALL
their lives, or had accepted Christ at the very end of their life, they
are ALL welcomed into the Church
of Christas the Bride of
Christ.)
And the owner of the vineyard said,I wish to give to this last
man the same as you.
How
gracious of our Lord. How fortunate
that you, that the world, has been given a final warning.
Just as in the days of Noah, before the flood, a final warning has
been given.
What
do YOU have to do to accept Christ now..before the Rapture?
Romans 10: 13 For whoever calls on the name of the Lord (Jesus)
shall be saved.(Quoting from John
MacArthur Study Bible footnotes, this familiar Old Testament expression
does not refer to some
desperate cry to just any deity but to the one true God as He has
revealed Himself a revelation which
now includes recognition of Jesus as Lord and of the One who raised
up Jesus from the dead.)
John 14: 6 Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth and the
life. No one comes to the Father except
through Me.
WARNING!
If
you think you are a Christian, but have NEVER accepted Christ as your personal
Lord and Savior sometime during your life, DO NOT BE DECEIVED!
There will be MANY church-going people left behind.
But just going to church will NOT be enough.
NOTHING you DOwill be enough, for you cannot earn your way
to heaven with ANYTHING you DO.
One of my favorites verses
in the Bible:
Ephesians 2:8,9 For
it is by GRACE you have been saved, through faith and this NOT from
yourselves, it is the gift of God NOT BY WORKS, so that NO ONE
CAN BOAST.
I always thought, wouldnt Heaven be a horrible place if we
all sat around and talked
about what WE did to earnour way there.
Hey Bob, what did you do?
Well I gave
ALOT of money to the church.
Good for you Bob. And
Susie, what did you do? Well,
I
helped a lot of people down at the homeless shelter.
Good for you Susie.
And, you get the gist
of this. Because our Salvation
is a GIFT from God, paid for by
Jesus Christs willful giving of His life for OUR sins, NO ONE
can ever boast. But we can
ALL
be humble and grateful for what He (Jesus Christ) did for each of
us. How wonderful!
And, 3 more important combinations of verses:
Romans 3:22-24 The righteousness
from God comes through Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is
no difference, for ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God, and are justified by His grace
through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
(And 1 Thessalonians 5:9) For God has not destined
us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Romans 11:6 Salvation is by grace alone because if by grace, then
it is no longer by works; if it were,
grace would no longer be grace.(And John 5:24)
I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes
in Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned.
John 3: 16
(The verse we all learned as children.)
For God so loved the world that He gave His only
Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal
life.
All
you need to do is BELIEVE in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Call on His name and accept Him as YOUR Lord and Savior.
DO it NOW, and be born again.
The
following prayer would be a suggested way to call on Jesus as YOUR Savior:
Dear God, I know that I am
a sinner. And there is NOTHING
I can do to earn my way into
heaven. Heaven is Your
free gift to me because Jesus Christ, You Son, died in MY place for MY
sins. Come into my life
today, Jesus and be my Savior forever.
DO
NOT DELAY in your action here. This
is not something to miss. For
the Tribulation will be a time like no other upon this earth.
Read for yourself the Book of Revelation and see what is to come.
Two-thirds of the population of the earth will perish during this
time.
And,
if you think it will be easyto accept Christ, to become a Christian,
during this time, you are wrong. Most
of those who do so will be unmercifully martyred before Christ returns.
And, if you cant find it in your heart to accept Christ now (whatever
excuses you make to yourself) your decision will be much harder to make
during the Tribulation.
In
Conclusion:
Truly,
no one may know the hour and the dayof the Rapture.
But we can certainly know of the times and the seasons.Thessalonians
5:1 Remember that Jesus
scolded the Pharisees for NOT knowing the signs at His first coming.
I
have not had a visionfrom God about all of this.
But my studies and discussions on this subject over the last 10 years
have led me to presume this possible scenario.
Keep
this phrase in mind:
As to the date of the RaptureLIVE like it could be today
and make plans as if it is still 100 years further in time.
But,
how much worse will the events on this earth be if God would have us wait
100 more years? The way
our society is living morally, (all around the world), and the way
we treat each other person to person, and nation to nation -
is getting worse by the year; not better.
Let us pray for sooner..rather than later.
YFIC,
Randy