Eternal life resides in Jesus and in Him alone. No one else! This is true now and will also be the case after Jesus removes His true church from the earth.
In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
What do people need the most? The answer remains the same as it’s always been: A clear understanding of the Gospel. By this I mean that people need Jesus, not the one that so many today create in their mind but but the One revealed on the pages of Scripture.
The claim that Jesus is already reigning over the nations is extremely popular in churches today. However, is this the rule of Jesus over the nations of the earth? Is our current experience the kingdom to which the New Testament says we are heirs?
What is this kingdom to which the Bible says we are heirs as believers.?
However, many pastors today insist that prophetic texts that refer to the restoration of a kingdom for Israel, the tribulation, and Jesus’ future reign are allegory, symbolical of another reality. This discrediting of the words of the Bible, however, is like a loose thread on a knit sweater. If one pulls at it long enough, it unravels the entire sweater.
You may wonder why I am again writing in defense of the pretribulation Rapture, the belief that Jesus will come for His church before the start of the seven-year tribulation. I am doing so because we live in a time when many inside and outside the church ridicule our hope in Jesus’ imminent appearing.
How do we answer those who mock the hope we hold so dear?
In this two-part series, I will answer twelve questions that confirm our belief that the New Testament indeed teaches a pretribulation Rapture.
How do we reconcile these diverse scenes? On the one hand, we saw a firm stand for liberty, the life of the unborn, and the preservation of our freedoms. At the same time, we witnessed demonic outbursts of hatred, murder, and violence fully intent at destroying our way of life and God-given rights.
What does it all mean? What can we expect in the days ahead?
Why am I writing about preterism? It’s my passion to warn believers about false teachings related to future things and as such preterism requires our full attention because it distorts our Gospel hope.
Because of the widespread acceptance and popularity of preterism, it’s necessary to address key perils wrapped up in its false teaching.
Are you crazy!? I realize some of you might think so after reading my title. How can I be so sure of something so hotly debated within the church? Most Christians either say we cannot know anything for sure about the Lord’s return or they dismiss the rapture altogether.
In spite of all the dissension today, I know Jesus is coming for all His saints, for us, before the start of the tribulation.
Is God finished with Israel? Most pastors today would answer yes. They either believe God has replaced Israel with the church or they may tell you that Jesus Himself fulfilled all the promises and covenants regarding Israel.
As a result, they see no prophetic significance in Israel’s miraculous rebirth as a nation. Those in this no more Israel camp make two critical errors.
Jesus is coming for His saints, for us, before the start of this awful period in human history.
In the points below, I review the previous signposts that have led to our destination. I believe that combined they provide a solid scriptural foundation for placing the rapture before the start of the day of the Lord.
The next signpost pointing to the occurrence of the rapture before the tribulation simply says “unique.” For pretribulationism to be biblical, the rapture and second coming cannot be the same event. If they are identical, we obviously cannot separate them by seven years or so.
If premillennialism is true, and it absolutely is, then then the following differences between the rapture and second coming passages argue strongly for regarding them as separate and unique events.
If not for my belief in the rapture, I would have reached a breaking point long, long ago. As it is, I sometimes feel anger boiling up within me as I see entertainers celebrating abortions, the evil that intensifies each and every day, and the greed and hatred rampant in our world.
I also know many believers have reached a breaking point due to illness, grief, and affliction. Pain touches the lives of so many followers of Jesus.
Clouds fascinate me more and more as I grow older. I am not sure any correlation exists with age, perhaps the reason for my growing interest lies elsewhere.
When cloud formations catch my eye, I often think of the time we will meet Jesus in the air. One day during the past week the cloud formations took me in a different direction. They brought to mind Jesus ascension.
In my last post, I looked at what Scripture teaches about our glorious role in Jesus’ kingdom during the millennium, which takes place between the Second Coming of Christ and the eternal state (referred to as “eternity” in the above timeline). For those of us in Christ, this thousand year period of time will be a thrilling time of renewal as we reign with Jesus for a thousand years sharing in His inheritance.
After reading my previous article, some might ask, “Is the millennium really necessary for us to experience the wondrous restoration you wrote about? Won’t these things also be true in the eternal state?”
We live in a time when believers are “tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes” (Eph. 4:14). This is especially true in regard to the return of Jesus. Today, we face a myriad of differing “schemes” regarding the rapture and other end time events.
How do we find our way in the midst of such confusion?
In my last post, I began listing reasons why we should regard the rapture as a separate event from the Second Coming. Much confusion exists today over this mater.
Because so many today fail to make the distinction between the two events, or fail to even believe in a rapture, it’s important to understand why it is different than the Second Coming.
Do you remember your grade school image of Isaac Newton? I still picture him sitting under an apple tree about to discover gravity as an apple hits him in the head.
A more realistic picture recognizes him of the most influential scientists of all time. He laid the foundation for all the scientific advances in the fields of physics and astronomy that came after him. In addition to his numerous scientific accomplishments, he was also a Theologian with groundbreaking views.
Do you remember the song “Signs” by the Five Man Electrical Band? This popular tune made it all the way to number 3 on the Billboard charts during the summer and fall of 1971. The refrain concludes with the words, “Sign, sign, everywhere a sign, sign, sign, sign.”
Now that I have that song firmly ensconced in your mind, I will move on to a different type of sign that I see everywhere I look. These multiple signs point to the coming tribulation and the end of the age.
I believe there is something radically different about what we are now witnessing today in our world.
In Psalm 2, we read that the Father promises the Son all the nations of the world as his “heritage.” Verse 7 says, “The Lord said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.’” The Father thus pledges to give the nations of the world to His Son as His inheritance.
Is it even within the realm of possibility that the Father would renege on a promise to his Son such as we find in Psalm 2? Absolutely not, it’s totally absurd to even think of such an occurrence! The Father will keep His promise of giving His Son the nations of the world as His inheritance.
Perhaps one of the more perplexing matters in the New Testament is the sense of imminent expectation regarding the Lord’s return. We see this all through its pages.
Jesus said, “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matt. 24:44). Jesus instructed His disciples to expect His appearing at any moment.
All through the epistles, we read of the New Testament saints eagerly watching for the Savior’s appearance (see Rom. 8:23; Phil. 3:20; 1 Thess. 1:9-10; and Titus 2:11-13). It’s clear that those who read the apostles’ letters anticipated Jesus’ return at any moment, too.
Yet, 2,000 years have passed since then. How do we understand Jesus' command the expectancy of the New Testament saints?
Do you remember the song “Signs” by the Five Man Electrical Band? This popular tune made it all the way to number 3 on the Billboard charts during the summer and fall of 1971. The refrain concludes with the words, “Sign, sign, everywhere a sign, sign, sign, sign.”
Now that I have that song firmly ensconced in your mind, I will move on to a different type of sign that I see everywhere I look. These multiple signs point to the coming tribulation and the end of the age.
I believe there is something radically different about what we are now witnessing today in our world.
