Reply to Gino
06/06/13
http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/june2013/gino66-2.htm
Hi Gino,
In the context of our Matt
24:22 discussion, I believe there certainly will be prayers
going up by the tribulation saints for the Lord to come as
soon as possible. We also see this at the 5th Seal where the
martyrs under the altar cry out to the Lord.
Rev 6:9-11 KJV
“And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the
altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of
God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried
with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and
true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them
that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto
every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they
should rest yet for a little season, until
their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should
be killed as they [were], should be fulfilled.”
I believe the timing of
the end of the “little season” has to do with the days of
Noah, as stated by the Lord Jesus Christ. In the days of
Noah, the wrath of God lasted approximately one year. This
is all in the context of the “gathering together of the
elect” in Matthew chapter 24, which I believe is the 2nd
Rapture event at the Sixth Seal (Rev 6:12-17), before the
wrath of God starts at the Seventh Seal (Rev 8:1,2) with the
7 Trumpets, followed by the 7 Bowls.
Your point about prayer is
crucial, however for the 1st Rapture event, the
“Open Door” revealed by the Lord Jesus Christ, and recorded
by the Apostle John in the letters to the Seven Churches in
Revelation chapters 2 & 3. While the “gathering together
of the elect” is an unconditional rapture event for all born
again believers, the “Open Door” is not. The “Open
Door” rapture event is based on being found “worthy to
escape” the Great Tribulation’s persecution of the saints by
the satanically indwelt Antichrist and his minions. This
persecution precedes the Sixth Seal and the main 2nd
Rapture event before the wrath of God. This persecution is
called the “hour of trial or temptation” in Rev 3:10.
Rev 3:7-10 KJV “And to the
angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things
saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the
key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and
shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold, I
have set before thee an open door, and no
man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast
kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, I will
make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are
Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to
come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have
loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my
patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of
temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to
try them that dwell upon the earth.”
The Lord Jesus Christ
here has judged the Philadelphians worthy to go through the
“Open Door” and escape the “hour of temptation”. Their
“little strength left” indicates trials that they will have
endured prior to the “hour of temptation”. This at
a bare minimum fits the faithful, persecuted
church, both near and far. They have already proven
themselves faithful and earned their crowns. They’ve been
promised the “Open Door” to escape Antichrist’s persecution.
Smyrna
was not rebuked and was told that they will suffer
persecution “ten
days” (timing clue?). The small
remnant at Sardis
was also found worthy. The others are told in no uncertain
terms that they will be left behind to suffer the
persecution unless they repent.
Unfortunately, Christ's warnings are being effectively
negated by the widely disseminated modern error that
all born-again believers are Philadelphians. Many
Christians whose lives fit the description of Laodicea,
take for granted that they are going to be raptured to
heaven before the Antichrist is revealed. They need to Repent, Watch and
Pray as the Lord Himself instructed in order to
be found worthy to escape through the “Open Door”.
Rev 3:14-22 KJV
“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write;
These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true
witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy
works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou
wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and
neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods,
and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art
wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 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, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not
appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou
mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be
zealous therefore, and repent.
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my
voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will
sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will
I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also
overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He
that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto
the churches.”
Luke 21:36 KJV “Watch
ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted
worthy to escape all these things that shall come to
pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”
YBIC,
Bill
Griese