In other words, to
quote a 'modern' version for those that
embrace the "multicultural,
world-citizen community" that eschews and
shuns the old-fashioned traditional
translation, the cosmopolitan comprehension of
Daniel 9:25 reads: "...to throttle rebellion, stop
sin, wipe out crime, set things right forever,
confirm what the prophet saw, and annoint The
Holy of Holies.".....my point being
> God is going to fulfill this even
if there was no rapture ! So then,
what is the rapture FOR (besides the "escape" we
long for?)
1) The Rapture
is for the fulfillment of God's promise to keep us
from wrath. We are all familiar with I
Thessalonians 1:10 > " ...to
wait for His Son from Heaven, whom He raised from
the dead, (even) Jesus, which delivered us from
the wrath to come."...which we understand
to mean as the wrath in the tribulation that
will come upon the world. But further in I
Thessalonians (5:9) we see another application to
keep us from wrath: "For God
hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain
salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ." This isn't just the wrath
of the coming tribulation. The definition of
God's wrath is eternal separation from Him.
This "wrath" (eternal separation from
God) will never fall upon the Believer
because God sent His Son by Whom we may obtain
salvation through Him.
So this is a two-fold blessing > As believers,
we are not appointed to ever suffer 'God's
wrath', aka separation from God; AND,
it has already been determined that "we who wait for His Son from
Heaven" (risen and coming again) will be
delivered from the wrath that is to come upon the
world (via the Rapture!)
2) The Resurrection
and Rapture is for
the fulfillment, the ESTABLISHMENT, of
Salvation and Eternal Life through our
Redeemer/Savior Jesus Christ. The moment
we believe, we HAVE salvation of our spirits. "We are confident, I say, and
willing rather to be absent from the body, and to
be present with the Lord." (2
Corinth. 5:8)
But the ESTABLISHMENT (reality) of that
salvation and eternal life will be found in the
restoration of dead bodies and the changing of
living bodies......from corruption to
incorruption, from mortal to immortal.....it's
the re-generation by permanent enactment of God's
promised provision for us.....both the Old
Testament Righteous and the Church, (dead-in-Christ
and living believers.)
3) The
Rapture is also a "reward" in the sense
of something given or received in recompense
for worthy behavior. Regardless of
whatever sin we may be found in at the time of the
rapture, regardless of how carnal or worldly a
believer has become, regardless of past sins, active
sins, sins of commission AND omission, at
the Bema Judgment we will face a review of the
deeds we've done in our bodies, as well as the
intentions of our hearts: And the consequences
of the review of our lives will result in
> "If any man's
work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but
he himself shall be saved; yet so
as by fire." (I
Corinth.3:15)
4) The Rapture
is also the reason that it will no longer be
necessary for Jesus to remain in His Office of
Advocacy.....where right now He represents us as
High Priest/Advocate before the Father, defending
our position IN HIM, BELONGING to Him, covered by
His Blood. An Advocate/defender is needed only
when there is an Accuser and since Satan is still
before the throne, accusing us day and night, Jesus
is the only One worthy to represent us for HE paid
the price as our Redeemer. He will remain
in that Office of Advocacy UNTIL there is no longer
an Accuser! We know that the
Accuser/Satan will soon be battling Michael and his
angels in an effort to remain in Heaven, but will
ultimately be cast out (permanently) to the
Earth. When this happens, and there is no
longer an Accuser, the Office of Advocacy is no
longer necessary! And then: "....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." (1
Thessalonians 4:16-17)
Numbers 1 through 4 are for "us." But
ultimately number 5 is for the world. It
will be a SIGN unto the world of the
causal relation to the disappearance of those known
to be Christians!
5) The
Rapture itself will be a SIGN for those
who will be left behind on Earth during the great
tribulation. Just as you said, Randy, "..there are SIGNS relating
to God's overall prophetic plan, specifically to
His preparation of the world for the time of the
tribulation which will start after the
rapture."...so will
the rapture itself be a sign unto those who will
come to believe after the
rapture!
The foolish virgins (of Matthew 25) whose
'vessels' (souls) were not filled
with 'oil' (the Holy Spirit) were not
prepared for the coming of the Bridegroom but
were told to go "buy" oil for
themselves.....this is a picture of those left
behind whom Jesus called on (in Revelation 3:18) "I counsel thee to buy
of me gold tried in the fire, that
thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that
thou mayest be clothed,..." Even
now, He's already warned the
unbelievers......who are playing Church,
who think they are saved because of church or
family affiliations, who do not really know
Jesus, who have a head knowledge of Him
but not a heart knowledge/faith &
trust relationship with Him, who are not
filled/indwelt with the Holy Spirit Who
is given at the moment of
salvation.......that when
they realize they have been 'left
behind' they should COME TO HIM......to
"buy of HIM" that
precious "oil" which is richer than gold
(The Holy Spirit)!
But why use the word "buy?"
It is used because of the understanding
that those who come to faith in Him
after the Rapture will PAY FOR
IT WITH THEIR LIVES.....THEY WILL LOSE THEIR
(mortal) LIFE IN ORDER TO
GAIN (eternal) LIFE.....through Him. The
Rapture, as a SIGN unto those left behind,
will be a beacon of light to:
1) those who
fooled around or procrastinated too long to make a
decision for Christ.....(John 3:16)
2) to those who
resisted loved ones who tried for years to witness
to them....(Jude 1:23)
3) to those who
were doubters.....(John, 20:25)
4) to those who
were sincere, but sincerely wrong, in
understanding their works alone would not save
them.....(Ephesians 2:8)
5)
to those who thought
their family status or church affiliation was
enough.....(Acts 2:40-41)
6)
to those who thought their
"good" would "outweigh" the bad.....(Romans
3:10)
7) to those who
were "sanctified by their spouse"....(which does not
mean that the unbelieving spouse is
automatically saved, but does mean that they are
treated by God as belonging to the believing
spouse, falling under that spouse's "umbrella"
of blessing and protection, and thus having the
benefit to more easily believe.).....(1 Corinthians 7:14)
8)
to those who realize
their child or children are "missing", even
ones too young or unaccountable to
profess Jesus as Savior are "gone"....(I
Corinth. 7:14)
THESE people who suddenly wake up to the blessed
sign of the Rapture and
to the reality of what just happened when
the Rapture occurred, will then have the choice to go
buy of Him gold.....to finally believe......but
they will pay to become rich in eternal life,
they will pay to be clothed in white
raiment by becoming tribulation martyrs in their
testimony for Christ....."He
that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that
loseth his life for my sake shall find it."
(Matthew 10:39...Matthew
16:25....Mark 8:35....Luke 9:24....Luke
17:33...John 12:25)
But for those who have no love of the truth, and
no desire to be saved, and who take pleasure in
unrighteousness, God will withdraw all
restraint, and allow men to believe what is
false, to follow their own nature, and to manifest
their own deceit. God will permit
a strong delusion to occupy their minds; so
that they believe a lie rather than the truth.
They will be ready to receive the false Messiah, the
Antichrist, while they virulently reject the
True One. That is what is meant by "And for this cause God shall send
them strong delusion, that they should believe a
lie:" (2 Thess. 2:11)
Yes, Randy, the birth pangs/beginning of
sorrows we are witnessing even now as
signs approaching the great tribulation, mark
even closer the "sign-less event" of the
rapture. And the Rapture itself will be a
great SIGN unto those left
behind! But there
is much more information given to us than
just realizing the great tribulation is close so the
Rapture is even closer. In the
timeline seen in The Three Weeks of
Jacob's Trouble and it's relation to the final 70th
Week, we can gain even more confidence in
WHEN to expect the "sign-less rapture" for it is not
really sign-less when we follow the timeline in
the analogy of Jacob's Trouble and
his deliverance at the Second Coming of
Jesus Christ, as well as understanding that the KEY
of when the Resurrection/Rapture takes place is
found in the Advocacy of Christ and when and
why that Office is to be terminated.
Yes, I agree with you that the clock is
ticking....TICK TOCK. There is
approximately 5 months to go! The Rapture
won't be any sooner than very early spring
because the appointed time for Satan to be
cast out of Heaven is in the midst of the 70th
Week...which is when there will no longer be an
Accuser and Jesus can come for us.
Until.....Sherry Vance~