For years after my Christian conversion the big thing to preach and teach about was the coming seven year Tribulation period of the Bible. There were many books written about the mark of the beast (the number 666), a worldwide database on people’s personal information, a one world government and a one world currency. I even predicted it would happen around 2007 based on my understanding of bible math. I don’t think I was too far off. We are almost there.
The Tribulation period is the period of time just before Jesus returns and Satan and his appointed Beast (world leader) and Prophet run the world with almost supernatural abilities. During this Tribulation period all sorts of plagues, famines and judgments from God will torment the people on earth. The big question is; when will we know that the Tribulation has started? Many believe the Bible teaches that the believers will be raptured or taken away at the beginning of the Tribulation. That will be a good clear signal, no more Christians. The Bible says the Holy Spirit who restrains will be taken out of the way. Sin will run rampant and judgment will follow. The implication is that the Holy Spirit, who dwells in believers, when they leave His influence and the power in them will go with them. Thus the world will have unrestrained power of sin working in them. All unbelievers who have not chosen Jesus will suffer the consequences.
What about the world situation leading up to the Tribulation period. We are on the verge of a worldwide failing economy. Where there was once a Mutually Assured Nuclear Destruction theory that prevented countries from attacking each other there is now a Mutual Assured Economic Destruction at work in the world today and we are on the edge of falling in the abyss from which there is no recovery. As we watch Greece’s economy fail, all of Europe is in turmoil, because if the nations of Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Ireland continue to spiral out of control in their debt they will take Europe down with them.
America is quickly heading in the same direction. Whether it is intentional or not our leaders in the white house and in congress are taking us into a sea of debt and we may be close to the point of no return. If America fails economically the rest of the world is in jeopardy, freedom is in jeopardy and Christians are in jeopardy. What the Marxists in the world want is a one world government. This is how they think they will get it by destroying all remnants of capitalism and the capitalist economic system. This friends will be the end of the world as we know it. Between the Muslims and the Marxist the world will be thrown back into a modern dark ages. They each want to perfect the world in their own way. One will cleanse the world of all infidels the other will cleanse the world of non-Marxist. Both are evil and both want to rule the world.
In this period of time before Jesus returns and the rulers of darkness take over what will it be like? Will the whole world be like Greece with rioting, banks failing, currency failing. Will people be without houses and food? Will only the churches that have paid up debt be able to remain open? Are we ready for the pre-Tribulation period? Are you ready for the pre-Tribulation period?
First thoughts are usually like “do I have enough money saved up” but what good is money if the currency fails, which it will. Our first thoughts are usually about the physical things but it had better quickly turn towards the spiritual. To be ready for any tribulation period, past, present or future requires that our faith and trust in God be our top priority in life. Our knowledge of the Father and Jesus, who we are in Christ and our spiritual strength, will be the most important things we will have. Our ability to depend on and listen to the Holy Spirit guiding us who will help us through each day, one day at a time will be crucial.
The coming crisis will not be about how well you prepared economically but about how well you are prepared spiritually. Are you ready? Is your church ready? Are you even getting ready? Does your church have a plan as to how you will be able to help one another? A God inspired plan of support and encouragement? Do you have a God inspired plan that will have you ready to go with Jesus if he comes soon and ready if he comes later?
There is a song from the 1980’s with the title “Time to get ready”. Well guess what? The time is now. And soon the time may be “too late”.
Nubby
[Hi Nubby. I saw the following on the net. Any reaction? Lord bless.]
ReplyDelete(This article reveals some research that is No. 1 on the "hate list" of many "fundy" Christians because it shows that their idolized "rapture" belief - the inspiration behind Lindsey's and LaHaye's all-time bestsellers - is only a 19th century invention and that credit long given to John Darby for it should go to a long unknown 15-year-old girl in Scotland!)
Margaret Macdonald's Rapture Chart !
"church" RAPTURE "church"
(present age) (tribulation)
In early 1830 Margaret was the very first one to see a pre-Antichrist (pretribulation) rapture in the Bible - and John Walvoord and Hal Lindsey lend support for this claim!
Walvoord's "Rapture Question" (1979) says her view resembles the "partial-rapture view" and Lindsey's "The Rapture" (1983) admits that "she definitely teaches a partial rapture."
But there's more. Lindsey (p. 26) says that partial rapturists see only "spiritual" Christians in the rapture and "unspiritual" ones left behind to endure Antichrist's trial. And Walvoord (p. 97) calls partial rapturists "pretribulationists"!
Margaret's pretrib view was a partial rapture form of it since only those "filled with the Spirit" would be raptured before the revealing of the Antichrist. A few critics, who've been repeating more than researching, have noted "Church" in the tribulation section of her account. Since they haven't known that all partial rapturists see "Church" on earth after their pretrib rapture (see the "church-splitting" chart above), they've wrongly assumed that Margaret was a posttrib!
In Sep. 1830 Edward Irving's journal "The Morning Watch" (hereafter: TMW) was the first to publicly reflect her novel view when it saw spiritual "Philadelphia" raptured before "the great tribulation" and unspiritual "Laodicea" left on earth.
In Dec. 1830 John Darby (the so-called "father of dispensationalism" even though he wasn't first on any crucial aspect of it!) was still defending the historic posttrib rapture view in the "Christian Herald."
Pretrib didn't spring from a "church/Israel" dichotomy, as many have assumed, but sprang from a "church/church" one, as we've seen, and was based only on symbols!
But innate anti-Jewishness soon appeared. (As noted, TMW in Sep. 1830 saw only less worthy church members left behind.) In Sep. 1832 TMW said that less worthy church members and "Jews" would be left behind. But by Mar. 1833 TMW was sure that only "Jews" would face the Antichrist!
As late as 1837 the non-dichotomous Darby saw the church "going in with Him to the marriage, to wit, with Jerusalem and the Jews." And he didn't clearly teach pretrib until 1839. His basis then was the Rev. 12:5 "man child...caught up" symbol he'd "borrowed" (without giving credit) from Irving who had been the first to use it for the same purpose in 1831!
For related articles Google "X-Raying Margaret," "Edward Irving is Unnerving," "Pretrib Rapture's Missing Lines," "The Unoriginal John Darby," "Open Letter to Todd Strandberg," "Deceiving and Being Deceived" by D.M., "Pretrib Rapture Pride," "Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty" and "Scholars Weigh My Research." The most documented and accurate book on pretrib rapture history is "The Rapture Plot" (see Armageddon Books online) - a 300-pager that has hundreds of disarming facts (like the ones above) not found in any other source.
I have only researched enough to know there are many rapture theories out there. The Lord has not confirmed to me any particular one is right so I follow the theology of the “immediate”. Do what is in front of you to do today. Don’t worry about tomorrow but prepare for it.
ReplyDeleteMy concern is that too many Christians are looking to the future rapture and not doing today what Jesus commanded them to do. The result is a church that is lukewarm, nonproductive and molded by the culture of the world. Instead of going forth and changing the world, making disciples and teaching them “ALL” the things Jesus taught, the church in America has become the church of comfort, motivational sermons and make me feel happy programs to substitute for what the bible really teaches. They think it must be okay because everybody is doing it, right. Wrong. We see the results in our politics, our culture, secular lifestyle, TV programming and news media. We world we live in is now corrupt, secularly governed and profane. The church is not only a reflection of the world it has become part of it. When I read Jeremiah and God’s warning to the Israelites, the spiritual state of Israel was not that much different from the spiritual state of America. Israel was eventually given over her enemies, the people were taken captive and became slaves. The same thing is happening today. We are on a path to slavery, owned by an ungodly government with the intent to eliminate Christ from society. I simply want to sound a warning if anyone will listen.
Nubby