For several weeks we have been talking about the importance of learning to depend on God now, because WE DON’T KNOW what tomorrow will be like or what it will bring. Today, we need to talk about learning to depend on God because WE DO KNOW what tomorrow (or one day soon) will be like and what it will bring.
The Bible clearly identifies that the world will end one day. It will be “as it was in Noah’s day”. Matthew’s Gospel says in chapter 24:37-39, “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. 38 In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. 39 People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.”
Second Timothy 3 also gives us a warning…. “You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!”
Have you noticed the changes in the world over the past 10, 20, 30 or 50 years? These didn’t happen all at once; they are slowly escalating as we move towards the return of Jesus Christ.
In Ephesians 5:25-27 the Bible tells us this…” 25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. 27 He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.
Notice that the Bride of Christ, which is the church, will need to be “without spot or wrinkle” and “holy and without fault.” I don’t know about you, but I haven’t seen that church yet. In fact, if you or I join any church, it will have blemishes because of us!
The church today is NOT without blemishes, NOT holy before God. There are many good, genuine believers in the church, but the way we become holy before God is to go through trials which purify us and draw us closer to God.
So, how do we get to that place where we are clean? First, we must be sure that we experience the NEW BIRTH. Jesus told Nicodemus, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” The new birth makes us beautifully clean. Inside and out, we are cleansed.
But over time, our interactions with the world, the flesh and the devil create blemishes, cancers, sores, and wrinkles in our life. It’s like walking around in a sandpaper suit! This can happen to us continuously unless we “walk worthy unto the Lord.”
This is God calling us to a state of holiness. Holiness means right living. This is a process of growth we go through as individual Christians and also as a church. A part of the process of growing in Christ is going through trials and tribulations, which strengthen us and help make us into the people of God.
The Rapture
So what about the rapture? Won’t the Christians just be yanked out of here before the Great Tribulation period? (This is known as a pre-tribulation rapture where Jesus comes back twice.)
This means the rapture will take place before the Tribulation and afterward there will be seven years of great turmoil on the earth, with the rise of a beast called the ANTICHRIST. There have been many movies, books like LEFT BEHIND which sold millions of copies, and sermons on this concept.
In almost all the world except America and Britain, Christians don’t believe that Jesus will return twice, only once. By that I mean He won’t be coming to rapture His faithful, take us to heaven, then come back 7 years later at the end of the Great Tribulation. In fact, this belief did not even exist here until the 1830’s.
A preacher in England named John Darby heard one of his church members tell about a dream she had that Jesus would return twice. He jumped on this theme, and based it on I Thessalonians 5:2, “2 For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.”
The denomination he was part of, the Plymouth Brethren, moved to the USA and began to spread this message. Another preacher named C.I. Scofield, liked the idea – and he was one who published the first popular Scofield Study Bible in America. Soon, the idea spread to the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and Dallas Theological Seminary in Texas, where many of the leading preachers of the last century were trained, including most fundamental, evangelical and TV preachers.
So, the idea that Jesus would return early was promoted, and I learned it as a young child. You probably did too. This idea spread, even though the word RAPTURE is not a word found in scripture.
POST-TRIBULATION – There is another concept – that Jesus only returns once, after the tribulation (Post Trib). Many good Bible professors and sound people make strong arguments that the Bible only describes a post-tribulation rapture. That is, the Church will remain active and functioning on earth during the seven-year reign of the Antichrist. It may be like the UNDERGROUND CHURCH in CHINA.
In the post-trib scenario, God will bless and protect Christians and the church – despite persecutions and tribulations, and when the Great Tribulation comes, the church will be as strong as it was during Pentecost. However – this is contingent upon Christians continuing to follow and serve God and NOT take the mark of the BEAST. It is represented by 666 and you will not be able to buy or sell without it. (digital transactions now make up 87% of all financial transactions!)
So, at the end of this 7-year TRIBULATION period, Jesus will return in the sky, those who are the dead in Christ will rise from the grave, and living Christians will join Him in the sky to do a great battle and defeat the Antichrist.
My biggest concern, though, is if Satan has used the false rapture doctrine to lull Christians, mainly in America, into complacency, with many believing they have a “get out of tribulation card” and, therefore, can coast into Heaven.
Imagine if Jesus contacted the Church in America today and said: OK, I’m offering you a choice. I can rapture you to heaven to escape the coming “hell on earth.” Or, I can leave you on earth to be my ambassadors, my brightest light amid the coming darkness and chaos. Despite the Antichrist’s terror, I will use you to bring about the greatest revival since Pentecost. I will pour out My Spirit so freely it will be clear to everyone that I am the Lord; there is no other.
You will see signs and wonders like never before. You will see your closest friends and family members who don’t know me yet come to salvation, and you will be the ones to lead them to me.
It won’t be easy. You will be persecuted and some of you will be martyred. But, if you remain faithful to me, I will equip you with supernatural strength to stand strong whatever may come your way.
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- If we actually were given that choice, which option would we take?
- Would we take the easy way out or choose the hard path?
- Even more, what would Christ want us to choose?
Remember, God only has one purpose – to lead men to accept Him and His love. What is the purpose of the Tribulation? The tribulation is the final time that men will be able to repent and turn to God. It is the final warning to the earth.
2 Thessalonians 2
2 Now, dear brothers and sisters, let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered to meet him….. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction. 4 He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.
5 Don’t you remember that I told you about all this when I was with you? 6 And you know what is holding him back, for he can be revealed only when his time comes. 7 For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. 8 Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, but the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming.
DEPEND ON GOD – HE IS TRUSTWORTHY!
REMEMEMBER -the Bible was not written to scare us: it was written to PREPARE us.
-Pastor Scott Gabrielson
Craig Valley Baptist Church, at 171 Salem Ave in New Castle, welcomes you to visit and share in the forgiveness we have experienced. We meet Sundays at 11AM, with an upbeat service of music, sharing and preaching. You don’t need to dress up, and you won’t be asked to speak, so just come and hang out and meet new and old friends! Questions? Call 540-864-5667 or email pastor@cv-bc.com.