METRO CORE SESSION #21 THE END TIMES: BIRTH PAINS AND RAPTURE JANUARY 14, 2015 Greg Cahalan

Transcription

1 1 METRO CORE SESSION #21 THE END TIMES: BIRTH PAINS AND RAPTURE JANUARY 14, 2015 Greg Cahalan Welcome to week #2 in our round of Core Sessions on the End Times! If you missed last week, don t worry, I will try to catch you up to speed quickly before the world ends, because it could happen any moment. Haha. But seriously, last week we set up a road map of where we are headed this week and next week, and we introduced the overall framework of this period of time we live in called The Last Days. Here is the road map: Notice that this timeline is labeled The Historic Premillennial Perspective on the End Times. If you have no idea what that means, don t worry about it. All you need to know for now is that this perspective believes that the Rapture and Second Coming of Jesus (the 5th column on the timeline) will happen AFTER the Great Tribulation (the 4th column) but BEFORE this thing called the Millennial Kingdom (the 6th column), where Jesus will reign on earth with His people for 1,000 years. The word millennium means 1,000 years. Now, the word perspective should alert you that this is not the ONLY perspective on these things. You should know that there are many respected Bible teachers who hold a different view from what is presented on this timeline. And you should also know that Metro City Church DOES NOT have an OFFICIAL position on the order of these things, which is a good thing because there are even some differing opinions among our Elders about it. We have some friendly debates about pre-trib or post-trib, but at the end of the day we do not believe the ORDER of End Time events is important enough to get upset about or divide over. The important thing is that Jesus is coming back to rid the world of evil once and for all, and we need to share the Gospel of Jesus with as many people as possible before that happens! Amen? Having said that, the perspective you see on this timeline is the one Pastor Jeremy and I both hold. We feel strongly about it, and I am going to do my best to explain the reasons why this week and next week. We will talk about the RAPTURE this week, and the MILLENNIUM next week. As you can see, all of human history is separated into two ages: This Present Evil Age & The Kingdom of God or the Age to Come. The Last Days are a time of transition between these two Ages. The Last Days began when Jesus entered the world and continue to this day. This was the main theme of last week that we live in the time of the Already, but Not Yet. In other words, this world that we live in is ALREADY evil, but it is NOT YET as evil as its going to be. This Present Evil Age is ALREADY marked by sin, suffering, pain and death and is subject to the rule of Satan and his demons. Watch the news for 2 minutes and you will see that our world is ALREADY filled with evil. But it is NOT YET as evil as it is going to be. It is going to get worse as we approach the End and move into the Great Tribulation. How s that for good news? But even though the world is evil, the grace and love of God have ALREADY broken into this evil world to defeat the devil and save people. If you are a Christian in this room, you have ALREADY had a deep experience of God s love and grace. You ALREADY have the Holy Spirit living inside of you. BUT, your experience of God s love and grace is NOT YET what it is going to be. There is coming a day when there will be NO MORE Satan, sin, suffering, pain and death! Jesus is going to come back and you are going to live with him face to face forever with fullness of joy and everlasting pleasure! So today we live in the ALREADY, but NOT YET the time of transition between this present evil age and the Kingdom of God. Even though the devil is ALREADY a defeated foe because of Jesus death and resurrection, he has NOT YET been completely banished from the earth. He is still on the loose, and he is not happy. The age to come has ALREADY begun, but this present evil age has NOT YET completely ended. The rule of Satan and the Kingdom of God are still in intense conflict with each other that will continue to get worse as the End approaches. Here is how Revelation 12 describes it: Revelation 12:10-12: Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. 11 They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. 12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He

2 2 is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short. Revelation 12:17: Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring those who keep God s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus. This is referring to the Church Age, the portion of the Last Days leading up to the Great Tribulation, the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ. After Revelation 12 sets up the tension between the ALREADY and the NOT YET, Revelation unpacks the war that Satan will wage against all of God s faithful people throughout the Last Days and especially during the time of Great Tribulation immediately before the End. And this is where we are going to start today and ask the question, when will the tribulation period start and what will it look like and so. Here is how I understand The Church Age: A time of intensifying conflict between Satan and God s people in this Present Evil Age. A time of intensifying judgment from God on the world. A time of intensifying experience of the Holy Spirit and the blessings of the Age to Come as more and more people embrace Jesus and His mission. We will come back to Revelation later, but first I want to look at Matthew 24, which is Jesus description of what the Church Age will look like as it leads into the time of Great Tribulation. As we approach Matthew 24, Jesus has just prophesied that the Temple in Jerusalem will be destroyed, and His disciples have some questions. Matthew 24:3-14: Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. Tell us, they said, when will this happen [the destruction of the temple], and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? 4 Jesus answered: Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, I am the Messiah, and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains. 9 Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. In these 11 verses, Jesus describes what the Last Days will be like. Some people have referred to these as signs of the End, but Jesus is careful to make clear that these will be signs of the PRESENT and of the END. These signs will be ALREADY and NOT YET. He calls them the beginning of birth pains and says such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Just as a woman s labor pains represent the time of transition for a baby from the womb to the outside world, these labor pains represent the time of transition from this present evil age to the age to come. And just as a woman s labor pains gradually intensify and reach their peak right before the baby is born, these labor pains of the Last Days gradually intensify and reach their peak right before Jesus returns. The Birth Pains that will gradually intensify over the Last Days : Persecution (24:6-7, 9) You will hear of wars and rumors of wars nation will rise against nation then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death Deceptive Religion (24:4-5, 11) Watch out that no one deceives you Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Increased Wickedness (24:12) the increase of wickedness God s Judgment (24:7) There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. Spreading the Gospel (24:14) this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. The entire period of the Last Days, from the time of Jesus until now, has been characterized by these labor pains, and now more than ever. More Christians were killed for their faith in the 20th century than in all other centuries combined, and the 21st Century so far has been even worse. You hear stories on the news almost daily of people being killed all over the world simply for being Christian. In the Middle East right now, Christians are having their heads cut off, including teenagers and children. Over 100 million Christians are being severely persecuted worldwide, and 70% of the world s population lives in an environment that is intolerant toward Christianity. And it is going to get worse. Even here in America, we are already beginning to lose some of our religious freedom and are being labeled as intolerant bigots for simply believing the Bible. The labor pain of persecution is intensifying. As for the growth of deceptive religion, while Christianity remains the largest religion in the world, the 20th and 21st centuries saw Islam, Hinduism, Daoism, Sikhism, Spiritualism, Baha i, Confucianism, Jainism, New Religions, Atheism, and Agnosticism grow faster than Christianity on a percentage basis. People have more religious options than ever and are more deceived and

3 3 confused than ever. The labor pain of deceptive religion is intensifying. Perhaps the most noticeable of all the labor pains, especially here in America, is the increase of wickedness in the world. Greed, lust and violence rule our culture. Spend ten minutes watching popular television, listening to popular music, or watching the news, and it will be beyond any doubt. We live in a materialistic, sexcrazed, and violent world. The labor pain of increased wickedness is intensifying. And in the middle of the persecution, the deceptive religion, and the wickedness of greed and lust, God s judgment upon this world is also intensifying. It is not popular to say that natural disasters are an act of God s judgment, but the Bible is not ambiguous about this. Natural disasters like famines, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes and tornados are a message from God to this fallen world. They are an act of God s judgment, but at the same time they are mingled with an offer of salvation. God is calling people everywhere to repent and take refuge in Him. Jesus made the message of natural disaster clear when a tower fell on a group of people in Siloam. Luke 13:4-5: Those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them-- do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Natural disaster is a call from God to repent and flee the wrath that is to come. Isaiah 13:13: the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the LORD Almighty, in the day of his burning anger. Look at this chart of the number of natural disasters reported over the past 111 years: Isn t that amazing? Talk about intensifying! Among these natural disasters are the earthquakes and famines that Jesus mentioned. There were over 500,000 earthquakes worldwide last year, and more 800 million people in the world currently do not have enough food to lead a healthy life. Jesus told us to expect these things to intensify as we approach the end. The labor pain of God s judgment is intensifying. Jesus said: Such things must happen, but the end is still to come All these are the beginning of birth pains. But it s not all doom and gloom during these Last Days. The Last Days will also include an intensifying experience of the Holy Spirit among God s people as they embrace Jesus and His mission to spread the Gospel around the entire world. Look at Jesus last words to His disciples before he ascended into heaven: Acts 1:6-8: Then they gathered around him and asked him, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? 7 He said to them: It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. The reason God is waiting so long to ultimately rid the world of Satan and evil is because His people have a mission to complete in the power of the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 3:9: The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. These Last Days are the days of salvation. He is patiently waiting for His message of love and grace to spread around the entire world. And the End won t come until it happens. Matthew 24:14: This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Here is where the story ends: Revelation 7:9-10: I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb. God is waiting for the great multitude to put their faith in Jesus and embrace the Good News of His Kingdom. This present evil age will not end until it happens. Over the past 25 years, there has been a dramatic increase in the amount attention and effort given to bringing the Gospel of Jesus to the unreached people of the world. The number of unreached people groups (defined as ethnic groups with their own unique language) is shrinking every year. Many of these groups have already been targeted and the Bible is already being translated into their language. For statistics on the progress of world evangelism, you can check out the web-sites for Operation World and the Joshua Project. The labor pain of the Spreading the Gospel is intensifying. These are the birth pains of the Last Days. They began during Jesus lifetime and have been gradually rising and falling ever since. For Jesus disciples, the labor pains began immediately at the hands of Rome as the Emperors Nero and Titus were the first major fore-runners of the Antichrist. In 70 A.D. the Temple in Jerusalem was completely destroyed, just as Jesus said it would be. There is no doubt that the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. is part of what Jesus had in mind when he answered His disciples about birth pains and signs in Matthew 24, but that is clearly not all He had in mind. The persecution of the 1st Century Christians is just a foreshadowing of an

4 4 even greater persecution that is coming. Matthew 24:15-21: When you see standing in the holy place the abomination that causes desolation, spoken of through the prophet Daniel let the reader understand [we can t get into all the details of this now, but I believe it refers immediately to Rome destroying the Temple, and ultimately to the final Antichrist demanding to be worshipped by the whole earth] 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now and never to be equaled again. This is where the phrase Great Tribulation first appears in the Bible. It marks the PEAK of the labor pains and signals that the Second Coming of Jesus and the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom is at hand. We will talk in detail about the Tribulation and the Millennium next week. But for now drop down to verse 29. Matthew 24:29-31: 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 the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. 30 Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they 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 loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. So here in Matthew 24, we have moved through the Church Age, into the Great Tribulation, and then here in verses is the second coming of Christ. The phrase after the tribulation in verse 29 is the primary reason I believe the Rapture of the Church will happen AFTER the tribulation. We will explore the timing of the Rapture in detail after we take a 10 minute break. Alright, you ready to talk about the Rapture? Let s get right to it. We are going to look at every passage in the Bible that clearly refers to the Rapture to see if we can figure out what it is and where it fits into the order of events. I think the best place to start is: 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up [ raptured ] together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. This is the clearest passage in the Bible about the Rapture. The word Rapture is the Latin translation of the phrase translated caught up in verse 17. The original Greek word used here is Harpazo = to be forcibly and suddenly lifted upward, to be snatched away. This is a pretty incredible picture being described here. It says that Jesus will come down from heaven with angels and trumpets and raise the dead in Christ. Then all believers who are still alive will be raptured, forcibly and suddenly lifted upward, to meet them in the clouds as they come down. Next let s look at 1 Corinthians 15:51-52: Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep [this is a figure of speech for die ], but we will all be changed in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will all be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. (1 Cor. 15:51-53). So not only will we be forcibly and suddenly lifted upward, but we will be CHANGED as this happens. Our physical bodies will be CHANGED to become imperishable and immortal. In other words, we will be given BODIES that can never DIE. This is sort of freaky, isn t it? To be honest, it s downright WEIRD. First it says that the dead will be raised. This idea of a resurrection from the dead is hard to believe, especially if you have ever been to a funeral and seen a dead body. But the Bible clearly teaches it. The bodies of every single person who has ever lived and died will one day rise from the dead. Later in this chapter Paul describes our resurrected bodies as imperishable, glorious, powerful and spiritual. He also says that our resurrection bodies will be like Jesus resurrection body. We will talk more about these bodies next week. They will be GLORIFIED BODIES! And if you are alive when Jesus returns, you will receive your glorified body without ever having to die. This is what the Rapture is. We who are alive will be caught up and changed and glorified. So there you have it. Those are the clearest passages in the Bible about what the Rapture is. But neither one says much about WHEN it will happen. Could it happen at any moment? Is there anything that has to happen first? This is where things get a little confusing. Some people believe it is the NEXT thing to happen on the End Times Timeline. They believe that the Rapture will happen BEFORE the Great Tribulation. (This is really the 1st of three views of when this RAPTURE thing is going to happen.) These people are known as Pre-Tribulationists = the Rapture happens BEFORE the Great Tribulation. For Pre-Trib people, the Rapture marks the beginning of the Great Tribulation. God snatches His people out of the world to be with Him in Heaven while the Tribulation is happening on Earth. This is the view that was dramatized in the Thief in the Night movies of the 1970 s and 1980 s and the Left Behind books and movies that came out in the late 1990 s. This is a very popular view and is held

5 5 by many respected Bible teachers, and currently held by some of our Elders here at Metro. A second group of people who think deeply about these things believe that the Rapture will happen in the MIDDLE of the Great Tribulation. They believe that the Tribulation will be a 7 year period that is split into two halves. The first 3 ½ years will be years of peace, and the last 3 ½ years will be years of Hell on Earth. They believe God s people will be raptured before things get too ugly. Mid- Tribulationists = the Rapture happens in the MIDDLE of the Great Tribulation. A third group of people believe that the Rapture will happen at the END of the Great Tribulation as Jesus is returning to Earth. They believe that Christians WILL have to live through the Great Tribulation. Post-Tribulationists = the Rapture happens at the END of the Great Tribulation. During the Tribulation, believers will remain on the Earth to spread the Gospel throughout the entire world, and then the End will come. The Rapture is the event that marks the END of the Great Tribulation and the RETURN of Christ to judge the world and set up His Millennial Kingdom. So which one is it? As I said before, there are many smart and GODLY people in each one of these camps. So we have to be careful not to be over-confident when it comes to our view of this. But as Jeremy and I have studied this and talked about it, we think that the Post-Trib view seems the most consistent with Scripture. Jeremy and I are both Post-Tribulationists. We believe that the Rapture will happen at the END of the Great Tribulation and that believers WILL have to live through the Great Tribulation. We think the case for a Post-Trib Rapture is compelling. Here is why. Let s go back to Matthew 24:21: For then there will be great tribulation, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now-- and never to be equaled again. Now drop down again to verse 29 and we will look at some verses that I believe talk about the Rapture: 29 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 the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. 30 At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. This is obviously a description of the second coming of Jesus Christ. The passage says that it will happen AFTER the great tribulation period. Verses 31 and describe what will happen to people who are on Earth when Jesus returns. A group of people called His elect (this is the church true Christians not just people who go to church but people who follow Jesus) will be gathered from all over the Earth to be with Jesus. Everyone else will be left behind. Think about this for a moment. This sounds an awful lot like the rapture doesn t it? One is taken and the other is left standing there thinking they re in a Bruce Willis or Will Smith movie. But some people don t think Jesus is talking about the rapture here at all. The Pre-Trib people think this is a separate event that will happen for people who become believers during the Tribulation. They think that everyone who is ALREADY a believer before the Tribulation will be raptured before the Tribulation begins. And everyone who becomes a believer during the Tribulation will be gathered at the End of the Tribulation. But again, to me it just seems obvious that Jesus is talking about the moment when he returns to gather all who truly believe and it will happen after this thing called the Great Tribulation. Look at this little chart that compares two of the passages about the rapture that we ve looked at. This is very compelling. We just read Jesus words in Matthew 24 so let s compare them with 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: Matthew 24:30-31 AFTER the Tribulation Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky He will send his angels with a loud trumpet call they will gather his elect Some folks say that there is this pre tribulation rapture and then a second type of gathering after the great tribulation period but I just don t see any good reason to conclude that these are two separate events. It almost seems like the Apostle Paul was simply putting Matthew 24 in his own words when he wrote 1 Thessalonians 4. If these are both referring to the same event, as I think they are, then the Rapture will happen AFTER the Tribulation. Now let s compare 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 Matthew 24:30-31 AFTER the Tribulation with a loud trumpet call they will gather his elect 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 The Lord himself will come down from heaven with the voice of the archangel with the trumpet call of God we will be caught up together with them in the clouds 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 at the LAST trumpet the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will all be changed This is very interesting. 1 Corinthians 15:51 says that the Rapture will happen at the LAST TRUMPET. And Matthew 24 says there will be a trumpet AFTER the Tribulation as

6 6 Jesus gathers His elect. Now stay with me here. How could the Last Trumpet be BEFORE the Tribulation when Jesus says there will be a Trumpet as He gathers His elect AFTER the Tribulation? The clear implication is that Matthew 24 refers to the Rapture and it will happen AFTER the tribulation, at the Last Trumpet. So that s it. Those are the only passages in the Bible that teach any real details about the Rapture. Now can you see why Pastor J and I are Post-Trib? We re not claiming to have all the answers, but it seems clear to us. And this is very consistent with the sequence of events in the Book of Revelation. Interestingly enough, the Book of Revelation does NOT specifically mention the Rapture by name. It does, however, mention the Resurrection of believers at the END of the Tribulation, which is consistent with this Post-Trib view. However, one of the arguments for the Pre-Trib view is that the word Church is not mentioned in the Book of Revelation after chapter 3, and the Great Tribulation begins in chapter 4. Every time the people of God are mentioned after chapter 3, they are called saints or Israel, but never the Church. Pre-Trib people take this as evidence that the Church will be raptured before the Great Tribulation begins in chapter 4, and that the Great Tribulation is a period when God is trying to save the Jews. This is known as Dispensationalism = 2 Separate People of God: Israel and the Church. Now let me ask you something. How many of you would call yourself Jewish? I will never forget the moment I discovered this for the first time. Did you know that the ONLY way to eternal life is to become A TRUE JEW? Jesus is the JEWISH Messiah. Anyone who puts their faith in Jesus becomes a TRUE JEW! We literally become children of Abraham and we become CITIZENS OF ISRAEL! Check this out: Ephesians 3:6, Romans 2:28-29: Through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body. A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly.instead, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly Many people who are ethnically Jewish are not TRUE JEWS according to the Bible. Revelation 3:9 refers to many ethnic Jews as those who claim to be Jews though they are not. Believers in Jesus are the only TRUE JEWS! Galatians 6:6 calls them the Israel of God, regardless of whether they are ethnically Jews or Gentiles. So let me ask you again: How many of you would call yourself Jewish? I don t know about you, but I AM JEW! If you are a Christian, you are a JEW in the fullest sense of the word. You are a spiritual citizen of Israel. And the Book of Revelation is clear that Israel will live through the Tribulation. In light of this, I think we should start having bar mitzvahs for our kids and eating matzah. What do you think? Ok, there are two other questions about a Post-Trib Rapture that I want to deal with before we wrap it up. The first question is this: Isn t the last half of the Tribulation a time when God pours out his wrath in the Earth? I thought Christians would never have to suffer the wrath of God. It is true that during the last half of the Tribulation God will pour out wrath upon the Earth. It is also true that Christians will NOT have to suffer the wrath of God. 1 Thessalonians 5:9: For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Revelation 3:10: Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. There is a big difference between TRIBULATION and WRATH. God has never promised to keep us from TRIBULATION, but He does promise to keep His people from His WRATH, and BOTH will be happening during the Great Tribulation. But don t forget that the Great Tribulation will not be the first time that God has ever poured out His wrath on the Earth. God has given us glimpses of His wrath over and over again throughout history. In fact, Jesus makes clear that God s wrath is part of the birth pains leading up to the Great Tribulation. But every time God has poured out His wrath, He has sheltered His people from it without ever removing them from the Earth. This was true in the Flood when God sheltered Noah and his family in the Ark. This was true in Sodom and Gomorrah when God warned Lot and his wife and sent angels to help them escape the destruction of the city. And this was true in the Exodus when God sheltered Israel from the plagues in Egypt, including passing over them in the death of the first-born. When John writes in Revelation 3:10 that God is going to keep you from the hour of trial, he does not mean that God is going to remove us from the earth. He means that God is going to shelter us from His wrath while we remain on earth. Additional evidence of this is found in the only other place in the New Testament where this same Greek phrase keep you from is used. Jesus used it while praying to His Father for His people in John 17:15: I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. Seems pretty clear to me. God is not going to take us out of the world, but He is going to shelter us from His wrath while we remain on earth just like He is going to keep the evil one from destroying us. Don t misunderstand what I am saying here. I am not saying that believers won t be greatly affected by God s Wrath. Just as Noah and his family lost their homes and possessions to the Flood while still being cared for and kept alive in the Ark, believers WILL be deeply impacted by the events of the Great Tribulation, but God will be with us and care for us through it while we spread His Gospel to the ends of the earth. The second question is this: Won t the Rapture happen like a thief in the night? If it happens at the END of the Tribulation, won t everyone see it coming?

7 7 It is true that the Bible says the Rapture will come like a thief in the night, when people are not expecting it. However, 1 Thessalonians 5:4 says to believers in Jesus: 1 Thessalonians 5:4: you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. END hasn t already come is that God is waiting for people like you to GET READY. It s really very simple, friends. The only way to be ready is to put your faith in Jesus and follow Him. That s it. Let s close in prayer. Listen, the Rapture will only come like a thief in the night for those who are not looking for it. During the Great Tribulation, things will be worse than they have ever been, but unbelievers will still refuse to believe in the Bible. They will try to explain it all away and blame it on global warming or pollution or something. They certainly will not be expecting Jesus to return. And the Rapture will surprise them like a thief in the night. And they will be LEFT BEHIND to suffer the judgment and wrath of God. But believers in Jesus will not be surprised by the Rapture. We will see it coming. While it is true that no one will know the Day or the Hour, we will still recognize the signs. We will not be caught off guard. We will know the Antichrist when we see him and we will reject the mark of the Beast, even if it costs us our lives. During the Great Tribulation, the REAL believers in Jesus will be revealed. It will be a time of great persecution of believers at the hands of the Antichrist. Thousands upon thousands of believers will be killed for their faith. Those that are not killed will be cut off from society and will not even be able to buy or sell in the marketplace. We re talking about some GOOD TIMES coming! But God promises to be WITH US and CARE FOR US. He will be all we need. Even if God allows us to be killed for our faith, we will never see death. The angels of God will escort us into the joy of God s presence. And for those who make it alive to the End, they will be RAPTURED as Jesus returns to set up His kingdom and judge the world. You DO NOT want to be LEFT BEHIND. WE MUST BE READY, AND WE MUST ENDURE TO THE END! Will you be ready? You know we don t believe in scare tactics around here. But some of the things in the Bible are just plain scary. If you are NOT ready, here is what the Bible says will happen to you: 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10: This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power 10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. Please, if you re not a believer in Jesus, don t wait another minute. You are NOT READY for the End. Even if the End of the World doesn t happen in your lifetime, the End of your life IS going to happen. God WANTS you to be ready. God wants you to be with Him. He wants to forgive you. He has been patiently waiting for you. The only reason the