Why don't you believe in a pre-tribulation rapture?
Bible
prophecies are designed to prepare us for events that will happen
in the future. In order to see the full revelation of the end-times,
we cannot color the Bible with our prejudices, belief systems, or
denominational positions. Jesus never tried to be optimistic or pessimistic;
He always presented generic truth without thought for His emotions
or what He personally may have wanted to believe. We must follow the
pattern of Jesus and the prophets by viewing prophecy from the most
abandoned arena of our time – realism. To be an effective witness
for God, you cannot be controlled by your emotions. You must remain
committed to being crucified to serve as a conduit for God, so that
His will is accomplished, as He is able to express Himself through
you.
Closely
examine the analysis of the following passage of Scripture to see
if the pre-tribulation rapture theory holds water. If a pre-tribulation
rapture is unscriptural, then belief in this theory is extremely dangerous
because it leaves millions of Christians completely unprepared for
the persecution that will be unleashed upon the Church in times ahead.
Many will, therefore, be unable to stand during the severe pressure
because they have been lulled to sleep by a self-serving, worldly
perversion of the Gospel. My friend, you can be absolutely sure of
one thing; you will suffer if Christ has genuinely saved you. Let’s
review Matthew 10:16-25 together:
"Behold,
I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore
wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they
will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in
their synagogues; And ye shall be brought before governors and kings
for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when
they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for
it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it
is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh
in you. And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and
the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their
parents, and cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated
of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end
shall be saved. But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye
into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over
the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come. The disciple is
not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough
for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his
lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much
more shall they call them of his household?"
Remember, he that endures to the end shall be saved. You and I have
to endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. We will come
under severe persecution in the last days from religious leaders who
have not been converted and filled with the Holy Ghost. The saints
of God will come under severe persecution from family members and
friends who don’t want to serve Jesus themselves. We will also
come under severe persecution from government and economic systems
that view us as a threat to their New World Order. We will be seen
as the problem on earth (not the solution) when we refuse to compromise
the Word of God in support of the one-world systems led by the false
prophet, who cause all men to worship and glorify the beast.
It
is time for denominationally bound traditionalists to repent and
receive a mighty baptism in the Holy Ghost. There is no other way
that we can be made ready to wage a spiritual battle against the
adversary of God. Listen carefully; the Bible exhorts us to pray
that we are accounted worthy to escape all these things coming on
the earth. Many theologians like to quote I Thessalonians 5:9, which
states that God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation
by our Lord Jesus Christ. This Scripture is absolutely true, but
there is a difference between the wrath of God and the wrath of
the devil.
The first three and one-half years of the tribulation period is
void of God’s wrath. During this time, Satan is allowed to
build his empire and sign a peace treaty with Israel in preparation
for the end-time sequences to begin. However, he will be angry because
the saints (you and I) are busy preaching the gospel with powerful
signs, wonders, and gifts of the Holy Ghost to confirm what is preached.
This will warn the nations that Satan is a counterfeit and that
he is raising up a false god.
The wrath of Satan is not to be feared, but confronted with power
and authority, while draped in the protective armor of God’s
Word. Just like the apostles, the prophets, and all the New Testament
saints who have gone before us, we will be under persecution for
a season. As we witness to the truth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ,
the Holy Ghost will come through us like a mighty rushing wind to
refresh the nations and bring deliverance to those who have been
bound by satanic influence.
The rapture is not an escape from the devil’s wrath, but a
complete removal of the Bride of Christ before the 16th chapter
of Revelation takes place. Read it for yourself,
And
I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels,
Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon
the earth. And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the
earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men
which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped
his image. And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea;
and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul
died in the sea. And the third angel poured out his vial upon
the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. And
I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord,
which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou
hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. And I heard
another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true
and righteous are thy judgments. And the fourth angel poured out
his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch
men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed
the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they
repented not to give him glory. And the fifth angel poured out
his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full
of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed
the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and
repented not of their deeds. And the sixth angel poured out his
vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was
dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth
of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the
mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils,
working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and
of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great
day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he
that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and
they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place
called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. And the seventh angel
poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice
out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there
was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the
earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city
was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell:
and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto
her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every
island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there
fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the
weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague
of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
Verse
one plainly states that the vials represent the pouring out of God’s
wrath. This passage refers to the judgment of God upon a rebellious
world that refuses to repent; even after the end-time church has
preached the Gospel of the Kingdom with an uncompromising witness. “Then the end shall come” the Bible reveals.
Do not fall prey to end-time delusions, but prepare yourself to
stand in trying times. End-time prophecy conferences, books, tapes,
and videos are big business now and have been used to fuel an industry
that is making many preachers rich. If you want to clearly see,
then come out from amongst them and touch not the unclean thing
so that God can receive you to Himself! Only then can you be an
effective and powerful witness for the Lord.
Remember,
the Greek word for witness is martus, the root for the English word
martyr. You and I should not be doing our own thing, but following
the leading of the Holy Ghost as He crucifies the old Adamic nature
and resurrects the nature of Christ (that is in the Body of Christ)
to qualify us for this promised departure.
I believe the “catching away” of the Body of Christ parallels
the ministry of the head of the body, Jesus. He was born of the
Virgin Mary, raised as a Jewish carpenter and taught in the synagogue.
When He was thirty years old He was led to the Jordan River and
baptized in water. At that point the Holy Ghost came upon Him to
fill Him with the power necessary to demonstrate who He was. The
Bible says that Jesus was revealed with many signs, wonders, and
gifts of the Holy Ghost. For three and one-half years, He lived,
walked, and worked amongst the people teaching and preaching the
Kingdom of God. After those three and one-half years, He sent the
Holy Ghost to His disciples to do the same work He did.
I believe that we will have the same three and one-half years into
the seven year tribulation to demonstrate the power of God to a
sin-filled, God-forsaking world. Then we will be caught up to escape
the wrath of God poured out on rebels who refused to heed our warning.
Friends, do not be deceived into believing a pre-tribulation rapture
theory. In order to arrive at that conclusion, the Bible has to
be grossly misunderstood and misinterpreted. It is time to gird
up our loins with truth and stand in the midst of a wicked and perverse
generation so that we may proclaim the truth of God’s Word
without fear. Do not let your mind be twisted into falling away
under the sway of soft-spoken words by a false prophetic voice.
The Church is prepared to carry this message to the nations and
see a generation dramatically saved and ushered into the Kingdom
of God.
You
can sit and read a multitude of fairy tales about the end-times
or you can strategically prepare for them. The tragedy is that this
pre-tribulation rapture lie is so ingrained in the religious mind
that it will take a tremendous shaking to awake people from this
lethargic state. Movies and books like Left Behind are making millions
of individuals believe that they will be taken away from the earth,
even while they sit in a rebellious, religious state totally separated
from the Spirit of God.
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