TJ’s posting to me:

http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/dec2005/tj1210.htm

My Response:

Matthew 16:18

"I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

Revelation 13:7
It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him.

Compare the above two verses. In Matthew, He tells us that the gates of Hades will NOT overcome the Church, yet in Revelation, power was given to Satan’s instrument, the AC, to make war with the saints AND overcome them. These are the ones who are saved AFTER the Church is gone.

After Chapter 5 of Revelation (where the “redeemed” are waiting for the first seal to be opened… only those of us who have accepted the sacrifice of Christ’s blood are redeemed;), the Church is not mentioned again until Revelation 19, where it tells us that the Bride is READY for the Wedding of the Lamb, clothed in fine linen, bright and clean. Then, starting in verse 11, the “armies of Heaven” return WITH Him to earth… clothed in fine linen, bright and clean.

As for the 144,000, they are not the Church; they are Jews, 12 from each of the 12 tribes.

In Jude, we are told that Christ returns WITH tens of thousands of His saints. We are told above that the Wedding has already taken place; doesn’t it stand to reason that the Bride is in Heaven WITH Him before He returns?

The Ezekiel 38-39 war and the Battle of Armageddon are NOT the same war. The remnant of Jews during the Trib are NOT going to be caught unawares. They will be kept safe, probably in Petra, by the Lord until the Battle of Armageddon, which will be a “battle” against the Lord, not against Israel.