WHAT IF
there is No Rapture
before the Great Tribulation?
Should you care?
How would you react?
Would your faith in God and the Bible be shaken?
Could you end up being part of the "apostasy"
or great "falling away",
Referenced in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 3?
I'd like to share a few things to help you both understand
what the Bible says is going to happen,
And how you and I are going to get through it.
The "WHEN" of the Rapture
or the gathering of the believers to meet the Lord,
is highly debated.
I was taught Jesus was going to remove His church
before the time of the Great Tribulation,
but after careful study over many years,
I've learned that is not what is taught in the Bible.
There is only ONE 2nd coming of Jesus Christ,
and it happens after the Great Tribulation.
The clearest passage is the words of Jesus
in Matthew chapter 24 verses 29-31
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days
the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from heaven,
and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven,
and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn,
and they will see the Son of Man
coming on the clouds of heaven
with power and great glory.
31 And He will send His angels
with a great sound of a trumpet,
and they will gather together His elect
from the four winds,
from one end of heaven to the other.
And for those who have been told
that the "elect" is only the Jews,
I'd encourage you to review my post and video
on who the elect are according to scripture.
John shares at the beginning of the Revelation ( chapter 1 and verse 7 ),
that everyone will see Jesus when He returns to Earth to rule and reign for 1,000 years.
It reads,
Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him,
even they who pierced Him.
And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him.
Even so, Amen.
I have shared all the relevant scriptures in many other posts and videos.
If you're interested, please click on the Link at the end of this short video.
( Pic ) Channel Screenshot
The Question remains,
WHY should you care WHEN the Rapture is to occur?
If it comes BEFORE the time of tribulation
and the rule of the antichrist,
then it really does not matter much
( To US )
as believers in Christ.
We will not be here,
and those left behind will have to figure things out without us.
So, let us eat, drink
and spend one hour in church a week
for tomorrow we might all be rapture.
If only this was true...
But it's NOT.
Since so many have been taught this "myth",
I fear most will fall away from the faith,
when the events of Revelation start to unfold.
As they are not expecting this to happen
to them.
Jesus knew that there will be only a small minority of people
who will still have faith when he returns.
In Luke chapter 18 verses 7 and 8
we read:
And shall God not avenge His own elect
who cry out day and night to Him,
though He bears long with them?
8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily.
Nevertheless,
when the Son of Man comes,
will He really find faith on the earth?"
What we will need to do is
to cling to the promises found in the word.
Keep our focus on the future,
and not the chaos going on around us.
A verse that I like to keep in mind
is found in 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 13
Therefore,
with your minds ready for action,
be sober-minded
and set your hope completely
on the grace to be brought to you
at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
*
I know some of you might be afraid
of the prospect of going through a time of persecution,
and the world chaos that we see in Revelation.
I get that.
Sometimes I "feel it" too.
However,
The Bible is full of promises and examples of how God takes care of His own.
I've got a post and video that talks about God's protection,
and I'll be sure to share the link at the end of this one.
Here is one of my favorite scriptures,
that I believe is describing what our mind set should be
as we find ourselves in the Great Tribulation,
From Isaiah chapter 26 and verses 20-21
Come, my people, enter your chambers,
And shut your doors behind you;
Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment,
Until the indignation is past.
21 For behold, the Lord comes out of His place
To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
The earth will also disclose her blood,
And will no more cover her slain.
If you understand what is going to happen,
and how long this time of trouble will be,
you can start counting down the days until the return of Jesus Christ.
As the reign of the antichrist is only 42 months or 1260 days.
Again, I've another post / video on the length of the time of trouble,
showing why it is to be 3 1/2 years
and not the 7 years commonly taught.
It should be noted that the really nasty events are at the very end
when the 7 bowls of God's wrath are poured out,
And this occurs after the 7th seal is opened
and the last trumpet has been sounded.
You will see in Revelation chapter 16,
that the effects of these bowls of wrath
are clearly upon the unbelievers
and the kingdom of the beast.
For example the first bowl
in Revelation chapter 16 and verse 2
We read;
So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth,
and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men
who had the mark of the beast
and those who worshiped his image.
Jesus clearly tells us to expect tribulation in this world,
but also that we can still have peace because of Him.
In John chapter 16 and verse 33,
we read in the Amplified Bible,
Classic Edition
I have told you these things,
so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence.
In the world you have tribulation
and trials and distress
and frustration;
but be of good cheer
[take courage;
be confident, certain,
undaunted]!
For I have overcome the world.
[I have deprived it of power to harm you
and have conquered it for you.]
We have many passages that encourage us to have hope
and to be looking forward to the return of Jesus Christ.
I'd encourage you to do your own study.
You'll notice all the letters by Paul and the other apostles
make mention of our need to be looking towards our future
when Jesus Christ is to be revealed at His return to Earth.
For now,
I'll close with one of my favorite end time passages,
What Jesus says in Luke 21 and verse 25 - 28
"And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars;
and on the earth distress of nations,
with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring;
26 men's hearts failing them from fear
and the expectation of those things
which are coming on the earth,
for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud
with power and great glory.
28 Now when these things begin to happen,
look up and lift up your heads,
because your redemption draws near."
AMEN!
Oh!
Here are two Video Links.
The one on Protection by God during the Tribulation
And this is the Playlist of the best End Times teachings I've posted so far.
Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments,
and please LIKE any you find to be useful,
to help others find them too.
Thank you.
Saved by Grace,
Andrew Cross
"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some,
but exhorting one another,
and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.Hebrews 10:23-25
