The Rapture...Comes Later?

Matthew 24:13-14
But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. This testimony shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

The church has been ostensibly vocal about the end times. There are countless movies, books, and mag articles professing the end is near and we'll all be caught up before the tribulation begins. In fact, it's even spilled over into mainstream media outlets. The Left Behind series was huge. I couldn't put those books down as a young adult. I was so interested, fascinated actually, by the idea

that the world as we know it would be changed forever. Our children would not know family life as we do. Our chance to sit and rock back and forth on the porch watching our grandchildren play in the front yard while we marvel at the goodness of God...gone. Life would never be the same. The series became a smash hit. Over 65 million copies were sold. And, when the movie came to theatres it grossed over 4 million dollars. That was not normal at the time for Christian feature films, especially with the content being covered. It was a phenomenal way to get the word out about what was happening, or rather what was going to happen, to our world.

                  

Since the cryptic words of the Revelation are difficult to understand media like this and countless others that have since been developed bring the words to life for those of us who are not skilled in Hebrew and Greek culture and text. So, when movies and books with this sensitive subject matter are made it's supposed to help us along in our understanding of truth. Uh oh! Big problem.

They continue to insist that the Church will be removed from earth before it all goes down. This is not biblical. Jesus tells the disciples that we will go through all of it. He says that even the elect - His chosen people - would be deceived during these times if it were possible because things are going to get super rough. He tells them in Matthew 24 that many people will fall away from the faith and that their love will wax cold due to the frequency and amount of lawlessness in the earth. But...this is still NOT the end. He warns that things will get terribly bad first. Then He will come just as He left and it will be no secret to anyone. People claiming to be the Christ will be all over the place, as they are now, but it's obvious that they're false prophets. He said quite clearly and plainly that it will be easy to see Him and know who He is when He returns. People will start weeping and mourning when they see Him because they chose not to believe and at that point it will be too late. They lived their lives as if He didn't exist and now, here He is. Then He says His people will be caught up. Before that Christians will lose their lives in dreadful ways for standing up for the Truth of the Gospel.  The antichrist will rule for 3 1/2 years and during that time it will be extremely tough. He promises protection for His people, but there will be casualties of this war. Do not be deceived. Be prepared.

Live each day as if He's already here watching us. Do your best, whatever that is under the circumstances in which you live. Pray and watch. Tell everyone you know and see the Truth of the Gospel and don't give up. Hang in there no matter what. Never stop believing and living for the Truth of the Gospel.

For more information regarding this subject click on this link:
End Times Teaching , proceed to the Church Services Archives page on the menu toggle and click on the link to Daniel's Seventy Weeks Prophecy. So far there are two installments on the teaching.

Be blessed and keep watching.