[NOTE: It is important to read Scripture
verses carefully and in context, paying close attention to
words
that indicate timing such as "WHEN". "THEN",
"AFTER", "BEFORE", etc.]. I have
capitalized
these words in Scripture references to point them out.]
So far we have seen from the Bible that
the Apostles were not expecting the Lord to return at any
moment
and did not believe that the Rapture was imminent because they knew that Jesus
had told
them
of things that would have to happen BEFORE His return. For example, Peter's
death (John
21:18-19);
The destruction of the temple (Luke.21:6; Mt. 24:2; Mk. 13:2); and Preaching
the Gospel
in
all the world (Mt.28:19-20).
And we know that, according to Scripture,
there are at least seven things that must occur, BEFORE
The
Day of the Lord (God's wrath) comes upon the world. As we have already seen:
(1)
Elijah the prophet must come and restore all things (Malachi 4:5,6; Matthew
17:11; Mark 9:12)
(2)
Believers awareness of the nearness of the Lord's Coming to Rapture the saints
(Matthew 24:32, 33; I Thess. 5:4,5).
(3)
The "falling away" (Daniel 11:30; II Thessalonians 2:3)
(4)
The "man of sin" must be revealed (recognized for who he is) (Matthew
24:15; Daniel 9:27)
These
two significant events (The apostasy & the man of sin -Antichrist-
revealed) will take place
before
the Day of the Lord (God's Wrath) begins (II Thess. 2:3) (I Thessalonians 5:9).
(5)
The fifth thing that must occur before God's wrath (The Day of the Lord) begins
is the heavenly
wonders
that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24:29-31. They are also mentioned in Isaiah
13:9,10; Joel
2:10,11;
Joel 2:30,31; Joel 3:14,15; Acts 2:19,20;Revelation 6:12,13.
(6)
The sealing of the 144 Thousand (Revelation 7:1-8)
(7)
The seventh and final event we will discuss in this series is "The Last
Trump". This most significant event
will
occur just before we are raptured! "Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall
not all sleep (die),
but
we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at "The
Last Trump": for the
trumpet
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be
changed." (I Corinthians 15:51,52)
Here, Paul pinpoints the very event that
will initiate the Rapture of the saints!
This
lines up exactly with I Thessalonians 4:16,17 "For the Lord Himself shall
descend from heaven
with
a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the
dead in Christ shall
rise
first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them
in the clouds to
meet
the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
This, the classic Rapture passage, agrees
perfectly with Paul's letter to the Corinthians. Written long before the book
of the Revelation was penned by the Apostle John, this can not refer to the
seventh trumpet judgment of Revelation 11:15 as many claim. This
trumpet, also called the trump of God, is referred to in direct connection with
the Day ofthe
Lord in Zephaniah 1:14-18 and Joel 2:1. Zechariah 9:14-16 showing God blowing
Histrumpet,
the trump of God, as He "shall save
them in that day as the flock of His people" referring toHis
saving/delivering by Rapture! The Lord Jesus also mentions this "The Last
Trump" when he speaks
of His "Coming in the clouds of
heaven with power and great glory, And He shall send His angels with a great
sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four
winds,from one end of
heaven to the other." (Matthew 24:30, 31)
This chapter, Matthew 24, the Cornerstone
of New Testament Prophecy, underlines this all important event, "The Last
Trump", as it will initiate the Rapture and the subsequent wrath of God
upon the unbelieving world called the Day of the Lord! We
have learned from the Scripture, during our last six newsletters that there
must and will be at least
seven events occurring on God's prophetic timetable before the Rapture of the
saints and God's wrath
which is the Day of the Lord. When will we be raptured? Not before all of these
prophesied events
that recorded above occur.
Will we know the day and the hour? No, but
we will be aware of the
approximate season by watching for these intervening events that must occur
before the Lord will come to rapture
His church. It is our responsibility to keep our lives pure, witnessing for the
Lord Jesus, and looking
for the unfolding of these events as we wait for His return.
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