What is coming next on God's prophetic calendar?
Is it really the rapture like many preach and believe?
Matthew 24:6-8
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
This passage is being fulfilled before our eyes. There are wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, and warnings of coming plagues galore. These things are just going to get worse between now and the beginning of the glorious Millennial reign of our Lord Jesus Christ. We see all these things being fulfilled, but what comes next? What can we, as Christians, expect to see next based on God's prophetic timeline?
Many preach and believe that the glorious rapture, the catching up of us the Christians, is what's coming next. The rapture will come and save us from having to live through the Tribulation, they claim. The interim pastor we had during the transition to our current pastor preached that the rapture is next on God's prophetic timeline.
Jack Chick also believes this:
But is this correct? Is the rapture really coming next? The idea going to be with the Lord without going through any trouble does sound appealing, even to me, but what does the Bible say? What does our FINAL authority in ALL matters of faith and practice say concerning what comes next? Let's read the next verse:
THEN shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. Matt 24:9
The rapture is not what's coming next, a horrible persecution of Christians is coming next!!
The persecution AFTER the beginning of sorrows will be far worse than before. The persecution Jesus Christ talked of in Mk 13 and Lk 12 (especially Lk 12) is persecution that comes BEFORE the time of sorrows. Compare these two passages with Mt 24:9, which describes the persecution which comes just after the beginning of sorrows. (See Olivet Discourse Parallel)
Before the "time of sorrows," Christ describes teh persecution as being taken to court, beatings and imprisonment. Just into the time of sorrows, He describes the persecution as this: Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake (Mt 24:9). He says that this persecution will be much worse: they won't just throw you into prison, they will kill you! (i.e. send you home). Yes, I know that Christians have been martyred throuout the centuries, but now it will be much worse. "... ye shall be hated of ALL nations..." Every nation on earth will pass laws making it illegal to believe and practice true Christianity. These laws may not necessarrily ban Christianity outright; especially in America and other nations that practice freedom of religion. Instead, they may pass laws that are guaranteed to trip Christians up, such as these so-called "hate crime" laws that make it illegal to preach against homosexuality and other kinds of sin. But one thing is sure, we will be persecuted as official policy of governments everywhere. If you think that all these draconian "anti-terror" laws will not affect you because you are not a terrorist and have nothing to hide? Think again. I have a video that shows FBI training police and firemen that Christians are vile terrorists that behead people!! (Alex Jones' "911: The Road to Tyranny. On the DVD this is located at 1:27:00.) I've seen an FBI pamplet that says to report "doomsday cultists" as potential terrorists, and the "Project Megiddo Report," issued in 1999, says that if you believe in Christ's second coming, you are a doomsday cultist and therefore a potential terrorist. The government is promoting the idea that we Christians are terrorists and criminals. This are just some of the ways this presecution is being planned and set up right now. And all this is persecution which happens not just during, but also before the tribulation!
But do not be afraid. The Lord is with us. He will sheild the true Christians from His wrath. He will be pouring out his wrath on the unsaved, Christ-rejecting world, not us who have washed away their sins with the blood of the Lamb. Psalm 91 is an excellent description of Divine protection during divine wrath. Don't take it figuratively when it says A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee (Ps 91:7), for this is exactly what will be happening just before and doing the Tribulation. People will be dying right and left of you because of the plagues, and it will not affect you! They will wonder after you because you are not being afflicted with them! What a witnessing oportunity this will be! And if (or when) they through us in the death camps, rejoice, for you will have a captive audience, most of whom will have their eternal destiny on their mind!
If you are not sure if you are good enought to earn God's protection, if you are not sure of you're eternal destiny, why don't you settle it right now? Click here to learn how to know for sure that you will go to Heaven and not Hell! You can know for sure that you are going to Heaven!
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