THE TRIUMPHANT RETURN OF CHRIST AND THE RESURRECTION
First, why don't you spend a few hours in seeing if you can
find the word "secret" connected with the second coming of
Christ. Then see if you can find the word "invisible" with the
coming of Christ. After that try finding the word "two-comings"
with the second coming of Christ. How about trying to find "phase
one" or "phase two" or "part one" or "part two" connected with
Christ's second coming.
Have fun, if you find any of the above let me know!
Take out your Bible, turn to Matthew 24. Now, are you ready
to do some simple Bible reading to find the truth of when the
resurrection of the saints will be? You are going to see that you
do not need a PhD, or some certificate from some fancy
Theological school. You just need to read the words, keep your
mind from clutter, and just be like a child.
They leave the Temple and Jesus' disciples have Him look at
the Temple. Jesus tells them, "You see these stones of the
Temple, the day is coming when not one will stand upon another."
"Oh Master," the disciples say, "tell us when these things
shall be and the SIGN of your coming." (verses 1-3).
Jesus is NOW going to tell them, and us, the SIGNS of when
He is going to return.
That is what Matthew 24 is all about. It is about the events
leading up to the RETURN of Jesus to this earth.
The stones of the Temple prophecy HAS NOT YET been
fulfilled! The WAILING WALL in Jerusalem TODAY was part of the
Temple. It is still standing. This prophecy was NOT fulfilled in
70 A.D. when Titus and the Roman armies destroyed Jerusalem. All
of Matthew 24 is YET to come to pass.
Verses 4-8 is:
False teachers; false ministers coming in the name of Christ,
saying that Christ is Christ, but shall deceive MANY, not the few
There will be WARS and rumours of wars.
There shall be FAMINE.
There shall be PESTILENCE AND EARTHQUAKES.
These are only the beginning of the last events leading up
to Christ's coming.
Now mark verses 9-13. Have we yet seen any words about some
invisible, secret, return of Christ to take his disciples up to
heaven? I sure haven't seen any words to that effect so far.
Verse 9-13.
"Then shall they DELIVER YOU up to be afflicted. and shall KILL
YOU: and YOU shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
Many shall be OFFENDED and shall betray one another, and shall
hate one another. Many false prophets shall arise and shall
DECEIVE MANY! And because INIQUITY shall ABOUND, the LOVE of many
shall wax cold. But he that shall endure to the end shall be
saved."
Are you still being a little child. Give those verse to a
child, say about 6 or 7, and they will tell you these verses
SPEAK ABOUT JESUS' DISCIPLE (not some Jewish nation) BEING
AFFLICTED AND KILLED AND BEING HATED for being true Christians!
Yes, it is just that simple to read!
This is going to take place BEFORE Jesus returns. This is
ONE of the very last SIGNS leading up to the coming of the Lord.
But so far the Lord as NOT come IN ANY WAY AT ALL. He has not
said one word about coming invisibly and secretly to take away
His disciples from affliction and from being killed.
Verse 14. The Gospel will be preached in all the world for a
WITNESS before the end comes. Hold on to that, I will take you to
the book of Revelation later to show you WHEN and by WHOM that
Gospel witness will go out, just before Christ returns.
Verse 15. When we see the abomination of desolation, stand
in the holy place, you better understand Jesus says. Most do NOT
understand what this is. They come up with fancy ideas about a
literal Temple, the anti-christ going and stopping the sacrifices
by the Jews and profaning this physical temple some how.
Jesus gave not one wit of such an idea as this. The fundamental
prophets get all this from misapplying and misunderstanding other
prophecies of the Bible, and they do not look for an account in
the Gospels that would INTERPRET this for them. The ideas of men
can go on forever, this idea, that idea, but the Bible INTERPRETS
itself.
If you go to the account of Luke, the same prophecy of Jesus, you
will find in Luke 21:20 the INTERPRETATION of the "abomination
that makes desolate." IT IS THE ARMIES COMPASSED AROUND JERUSALEM
READY TO DESTROY IT - JERUSALEM THAT IS!
It has NOTHING to do with a physical temple in Jerusalem!
When this takes place, Jesus said those in the area had
better FLEE to the mountains. Woe to nursing mothers. Pray your
flight be not in the winter. Jesus is still talking to His
disciples ... they are to pray their flight is not in the winter.
These last verses make no sense if the disciples are going to be
"secretly" at some invisible first-phase of Christ's coming,
taken off to heaven. No, the disciples are to flee to the to the
mountains ..."Let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains"
(verse 16).
Jesus has said NOTHING about some invisible first-phase of
His coming to rapture the saints off to heaven. When I was
reading this many times as a child, I never thought of any
"secret" anything going on here. All this is very OPEN and
LITERAL AND HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH A COMING OF CHRIST BEFORE HE
COMES!
THEN, when all this is taking place AROUND JERUSALEM, the
time of GREAT TRIBULATION will come on this earth as NEVER BEFORE
in human history (verse 21). And Jesus said that except THOSE
days be shortened NO FLESH would be SAVED ALIVE, but for the
ELECT they will be shortened. If the elect are already up in
heaven via some invisible return of Christ to carry them off to
heaven, then SHORTENING those tribulation days WOULD NOT MATTER,
for the elect, according to the fundamental prophets ain't on
earth anyway, but safely up in heaven. Shortening or lengthening
those tribulation days would have no effect on the saints IF they
are up in heaven via a secret rapture.
Jesus does not stop there. He says, "Then if any man shall
say TO YOU (yes you the disciples, not some Jewish nation, but
YOU, the disciples of Christ), Lo, here is Christ, or there,
believe it not!" (verse 23). At that time of the great
tribulation how could anyone say such words to the disciples
("you") if the disciples are up in heaven via some secret
rapture?
There shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and
shall show great signs and wonders (verse 24). Do you get the
CONTEXT? It is the Great Tribulation time. Notice what Jesus said
next, "insomuch that, IF it was possible, they shall deceive the
very ELECT!"
Now how can the VERY ELECT be deceived BY THESE FALSE CHRIST
AND FALSE PROPHETS at the Great Tribulation time, IF the very
elect are up in heaven via an invisible first-phase coming of
Christ to rapture the saints to heaven?
Are you seeing from what we have read so far, the utter
illogical teaching is the "secret rapture" of some teaching of a
two-phase second coming of Christ?
Jesus goes on to talk to His very disciples, "Behold I have
told YOU before" (verse 25). "If they shall say TO YOU, Behold,
he is in the desert; go not forth; behold he is in the secret
chamber; believe it not" (verse 26). Aaaahhhhuuuuummmm .... maybe
Jesus is in the "secret chamber" getting ready to come and
perform the "secret rapture" of the saints. I speak with tongue
in cheek.
Jesus' disciples are not be take notice of such false
prophets; FOR ... Jesus goes on to say, "For, as the lightning
comes out of the east, and shines to the west, SO SHALL ALSO THE
COMING OF THE SON OF MAN BE! For where the carcase is, you find
the eagles gathered together" (verses 27,28).
The COMING of Jesus will not be a "secret" - it will not be
"invisible" - it will not be a two-phased coming, one secret and
the other visible! No such crazy doctrine of a two-phased coming
of Christ is taught in the New Testament. It is just NOT THERE!!
Christ will come like the BRIGHT LIGHTNING, IT WILL BE
VISIBLE, MIGHTY, POWERFUL, and verse 28 is talking about Jesus'
disciples being gathered together to Him, as the eagles gather
where the carcase is. This is exactly what Paul was teaching in 1
Thes.4: 13-18.
JESUS GIVES THE TIME
It is unmistakable, no need to revert to any man's ideas,
Jesus gives us the ONE, TWO, THREE of it all. We just need to
BELIEVE IT!
Verse 29-31. Mark them, note how EASY it is to understand
the coming of Christ with the resurrection of the saints.
"IMMEDIATELY AFTER the tribulation of those days, the sun shall
be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars
shall fall from heaven, and the POWERS of the heaven shall be
shaken."
Are you with me? Do you see what you have just read? Is it
not SIMPLE to understand? IT IS ***after*** the tribulation of
those days that the HEAVENLY SIGNS take place. Not before, not
during, but AFTER!! You have the Great Tribulation, THEN AFTER
the heavenly signs!!
And what do we have THEN, when or after the heavenly signs?
"And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and
then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall SEE
the Son of man COMING in the CLOUDS of heaven with POWER and
GREAT GLORY!
There it is, for the FIRST TIME, in the outline Jesus gave
to His disciples on the signs of His coming. He does NOT come
BEFORE He comes. There is not one word about Him saying He would
come "secretly" and take His disciples to heaven to escape the
Great Tribulation. Not one word about some "first-phase"
invisible coming to snatch the saints off to heaven. Jesus does
NOT COME UNTIL HE COMES, it is just that simple. Yes a child
could understand it. I did understand it when I was a child. It
was a simple one, two, three.
And when happens on the THREE?
"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" (verse 31).
The angels are sent to gather WHEN Christ comes THE ONE AND
ONLY COMING, WITH POWER AND GLORY, TO GATHER THE ELECT, from
where, from heaven where God the Father is? No! christ is in the
CLOUDS of earth. The angels are sent by Him to gather the elect
from the four winds of the earth!
There it is. Jesus made it simple to understand. The saints
are on the earth when the Great Tribulation comes, they are to
take no notice of the false Christs that will try to deceive them
at that time. They are to remember the coming of Christ will be
OPEN AND SPECTACULAR like lightning flashing across the sky. It
is AFTER the tribulation of those days that the heavenly signs
appear, and it is at that time, the sign of the Son of man shall
appear. Jesus will return. He will send the angels to gather the
elect from all corners of the earth.
THE RESURRECTION OF THE SAINTS TAKES PLACE WHEN JESUS COMES,
WHICH IS AFTER THE GREAT TRIBULATION AND AFTER THE HEAVENLY
SIGNS.
Now it is just that simple to understand the one, two,
three, of the events leading up to the coming of Jesus, the one
and ONLY ONE coming of Christ. Now you have your "coming of
Christ and resurrection of the saints" degree. You have earned
your degree in one easy sitting. Took maybe an hour at the most.
Now you understand something that some people with PhDs CAN NOT
GET THROUGH THEIR HEAD FOR LOVE OR MONEY AS THE SAYING GOES.
REVELATION CHAPTERS 6 TO 11
All of this dove-tails with Revelation 6 to 11.
THE FOUR SEALS:
Chapter 6. The rider on the white horse is FALSE CHRISTS.
The rider on the red horse is WARS.
The rider on the black horse is FAMINE.
The rider of the pale horse is PESTILENCE AND EARTHQUAKES AND
WARS AND DEATH.
THE FIFTH SEAL:
Read it, verses 9-11. Is there any confusion in your mind?
It says what it means and means what it says! There is coming on
this earth in the last days, exactly what Jesus told us in
Matthew 24. His disciples at the end time, are going to be
persecuted and some will be killed. No word here about some
"secret rapture" of the saints to heaven!
THE SIXTH SEAL:
Here again is the heavenly signs, just as Jesus had already
told us about in Matthew 24. Remember the book of Revelation is
the revelation of Jesus Christ not John (chap.1:1) which he gave
to John to write down.
What happens AFTER the killing of saints and heavenly signs?
It is the "great day of the wrath" of God and the Lamb Christ
Jesus (verse 17).
We have the sealing of 144,000 from Israel tribes or
nations. We have the sealing of the great multitude which no man
could number, "which CAME OUT OF great tribulation" (verse 14).
They came "out of it" not from it via a secret rapture to heaven.
No invisible coming of Christ, or some first-phase coming is
mentioned in the book of Revelation. These are now all sealed,
protected from the "great day of His wrath" or as the Old
Testament prophets called it, "the day of the Lord. The day of
the Lord COMES AFTER the Great Tribulation and Heavenly signs!
THE SEVENTH SEAL:
The SEVEN angels with TRUMPETS, prepare themselves to
sound(verse 6).
The fist four trumpets sound in verses 7 to 13.
The fifth and sixth trumpets sound in chapter 9. The world
is so deceived by the false prophet and "beast" man and the
Roman/Babylon Mystery religion of Europe, that even at the end of
the sixth trumpet, the world as a whole WILL NOT REPENT OF THEIR
SINS (verses 20,21).
Notice chapter 10:7. "In the days of the voice of the
SEVENTH angel (the last trumpet), when he shall begin to sound,
the MYSTERY of God should be finished, as He has declared to His
servants the prophets."
When does the SEVENTH TRUMPET SOUND? You find it in chapter
11:15-19.
And it is then the time for God to REIGN, the time to
destroy them who are destroying the earth, and the time for the
DEAD to be judged! And give REWARDS unto "thy servants the
prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name." It is
the time for the dead saints to rise in a resurrection and the
living saints ON earth to be CHANGED from mortal to immortality.
The one, two, three, of it all is again made crystal clear by
Jesus Christ. The DEAD, and the saints of all ages, are not
rewarded UNTIL the SEVENTH trumpet sounds, and that seventh
trumpet is the last trumpet to sound, and it is the time when God
comes in the form of Jesus Christ to REIGN on earth.
The RESURRECTION of the saints, the time for the saints to
be GLORIFIED and made immortal, is at the ONE and ONLY ONE coming
of the Lord, when He comes at the sound of the SEVENTH and LAST
trumpet, and that seventh and last trumpet, comes AFTER ALL the
seals and all the other six trumpets.
Matthew 24 is again, in more detail, expounded for us in the
book of Revelation. What Jesus spoke about in Matthew 24 is NOT
CONTRADICTED in the book of Revelation, but is VERIFIED in more
detail.
THE RESURRECTION OF 1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-18
Most "secret rapture" teachers will five you these verses as
part of the saints being glorified and made immortal at the
"secret" or "invisible" first-phase coming of Christ. But if you
will read it very carefully, clear your mind of stuff you may
have been fed by the fundamental prophets, what do we find?
We are not to be ignorant of the truth about those saints
who have died, which now sleep. For "if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so them which sleep in Jesus will God
bring with Him" (verse 14).
Now how will God (oh in passing note Jesus is called "God")
bring with Him these saints sleeping in death? Is it because they
are not sleeping but awake in heaven, and so will come with
Christ from heaven? Some would tell you it is so. Or is it
because Jesus has come in "secret" and taken them to heaven? Some
will tell you it is so. But no need to think of the ideas of men,
as Paul himself explains what he means by the Lord bringing them
with Him. Notice the CONNECTING WORD in the next verse, "FOR"
.... this is why he has just said what he said, "For this we say
unto you by the word of the Lord (its already in the Scriptures)
that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord
shall not precede those which are asleep.....FOR (Paul goes on to
explain further the truth that God will bring them with
him)...FOR the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a
shout, with the voice of the arch-angel, 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words."
Now the "secret rapture" teachers MUST use these verses for
their secret rapture doctrine, for they have to say that the dead
saints and the living saints are made immortal at this time, and
go off to heaven with Christ, and then come back later to rule
the world, and their later is either 7 years or 3 and 1/2 years,
but after the great tribulation and day of the Lord.
Did you read right over the words of verse 16? Many do! Most
"secret rapturists" do! The Lord comes here to gather the saints
unto Himself, NOT IN SECRET, not in some invisible soundness way,
BUT WITH A SHOUT, WITH THE VOICE OF THE ARCH-ANGEL, AND WITH A
TRUMPET BLAST!!
Once more this passage does not support the "secret rapture"
idea at all. This passage BLOWS TO BITS the idea of some first-
phase, secret rapture coming of Christ. This passage supports
exactly what we have already seen in the book of Revelation and
in Matthew 24!!
THE LAST TRUMP OF 1 CORINTHIANS 15
Paul in verses 20-23 is giving the clear teaching that
Christ is the first to be resurrected from the dead to immortal
life. But they that are His, the saints of God, the disciples of
Christ, will be RAISED WHEN HE COMES! All must die, but all can
be made alive by Christ, but those that are Christ's will not be
made alive again UNTIL His COMING!! And we have seen what His
coming with be like, with heavenly signs, like lightning, with
angels, with power, with glory, with the SOUND OF THE TRUMPET!
To enter the Kingdom of God you must be CHANGED, no flesh
and blood person can enter the Kingdom of God (verse 50).
Paul, like as in 1 Thes.4, says not all saints will be dead
when Christ comes, those that are alive MUST BE CHANGED! It will
happen in the twinkling of an eye ... WHEN does it happen? AT THE
LAST TRUMP: "for the trumpet will sound, and the dead shall be
raised incorruptible, and we )those alive on earth) shall be
CHANGED. For the corruptible must put on incorruption, and this
mortal shall put on immortality...."(verses 52-54).
The secret rapturists tell you the saints will be raised
from the graves, those alive changed to immortality. They use
these verses, but tell you all this will happen BEFORE the Great
Tribulation, either before the 7 year tribulation or half way
through the 7 year tribulation, at the end of this age. They use
these verses, for indeed the saints would have to be immortal to
go to heaven and be part of the Kingdom of God, but they use
these verses in a two-phased return of Christ. Yet in the first-
phase the saints have to be immortal.
But WHEN does the CHANGE from mortal to immortal for the
dead and living saints TAKE PLACE?
IT'S RIGHT THERE IN THE VERSES WE HAVE JUST READ. IT IS AT
THE ***LAST TRUMPET SOUND***
Are you seeing how simple all this is? Are you putting
Scripture with Scripture? The CHANGE for the saints dead and
alive, is at the LAST TRUMP. The LAST TRUMPET is given to us in
the book of Revelation. We have just been reading it! The last
trumpet does not sound UNTIL after the seals and six trumpets of
Revelation have been opened and sounded on this earth. The LAST
trumpet, is just that, the last trumpet, and the Bible interprets
itself in telling you when the last trumpet sounds. It sounds
when the voice of the arch-angel sounds, when the last TRUMPET IS
BLASTED. And all of this does not happen UNTIL AFTER the Great
Tribulation of those days, AFTER the heavenly signs, at the then
sound of the Last Trumpet Jesus will like lightning, in open
view, with power and glory, riding upon a white horse (Revelation
19:11), at the END of the "day of the Lord's wrath" COME TO THIS
EARTH, TO THE CLOUDS. Then as this LAST trumpet SOUNDS, the
angels are sent forth to gather the elect from the four winds of
heaven. The elect dead are raised from the graves, the living
saints will be changed, all will be made immortal, incorruptible.
The angels will gather them and take them to where Jesus is
waiting to meet them in the clouds of this earth. And so indeed
the saints will be forever with the Lord.
WHERE THE LORD GOES TO
We have come to THE DAY of our Lord's return, a day that no
one knows but the Father only. The saints have come forth from
the graves, the living saints are changed, all meet Christ in the
clouds of this earth, in the air. THEN what happens? The Bible
interprets itself!
Turn to Zechariah 14 and you'll get the "rest of the story."
In the very day Christ comes in triumph, in THAT DAY, His feet
will touch the Mount of Olives. Jesus is King of the earth. All
the words of the prophets have come to pass. The Messiah has come
again, in ONE coming, not some crazy idea of a two-phased coming,
which cannot be found in the Bible, but only in the silly ideas
of men, who cannot put the Scriptures together correctly, who
cannot read the Bible as a child.
All that is written about that SPECIFIC DAY and all that is
written about the next age to come, the 1,000 year age of the
Kingdom of God on earth, WILL NOW COME TO PASS!
MARK 13; LUKE 21
You should open up these two chapter with that of Matthew
24. Note each of them. Note a few differences, such as in one
there is mention of "great distress in the land, and wrath upon
this people" showing indeed that the people living in the Holy
Land will experience death and the sword and Jerusalem will be
trodden down of the Gentiles.
There are slight variations in Matthew 24; Mark 13; and Luke
21, but the fact of all of them is that there is no talk of some
"secret rapture" of saints to escape what is coming on the earth
in the last 42 months of this age. There is clear talk in each of
these chapters of a persecution and killing of disciples of the
Lord, just as given in Revelation and the 5th seal of chapter 6.
There is no "secret rapture" in the pages of your Bible. But
there is DELIVERANCE AND PROTECTION promised for SOME of the
living saints at the time of the end.
GOD'S PROTECTION IS NOT SOME "SECRET RAPTURE"
Turn to Luke 21 and verse 36. Jesus says protection is for
some at the end of this age.
Revelation 12 gives you HOW AND WHERE!
This chapter is the outline of the people of God from the
days of Jacob to the end time Great Tribulation on this earth. As
the "woman" (the true people of God) was protected in the
WILDERNESS during the middle ages, the dark ages, so it shall be
once more in the last days. Verses 13-17.
Satan will be allowed to being great tribulation on this
earth. The woman (true people of God) will be given two great
wings that she may fly, where, to heaven? No, to the WILDERNESS
for a time, and times, and half a times, from the face of the
serpent (the Devil verse 9). The Serpent will cast forth a flood
of armies to destroy the woman in the wilderness (water can stand
for people - Rev.17:15) BUT the EARTH helped the woman, and
opened its mouth to swallow up the flood of the Dragon.
Then the Dragon (Satan v. 9) goes to MAKE WAR WITH THE
REMNANT OF THE WOMAN'S SEED, with them that KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS
OF GOD AND HAVE THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS CHRIST!!
Here we are told again that SOME of the saints at the end
time, during the last 42 months of this age, WILL DIE IN THE
FIGHT WITH SATAN, JUST AS WAS TOLD TO US IN CHAPTER 6 AND THE
FIFTH SEAL!
It is a part of the factual recorded history of mankind,
that all through the ages SOME of the ELECT, some of the people
of God, must suffer death for the sake of the commandments of God
and the testimony of Jesus Christ. It has always been this way.
It will be no different during the tribulation of the last years
of this age.
God knows WHO can stand up and DIE for the faith once
delivered to the saints. He will put that test on only the people
who can and will have the strength to DIE for the true faith of
God and Christ.
THE LAST PART OF MATTHEW 24
I do not want to end this study without expounding the last
part of Matthew 24, and the "one left and one taken" verse. For
sure enough people taking this verse out of context have applied
it to their "secret rapture" teaching.
Jesus has just finished with His coming and the angels going
out to gather the elect to Himself. He now continues in verses
32-51 to address that SPECIFIC DAY of His coming, and the
attitude that should always be for His disciples.
When we see the signs He told us about, we can know His
coming is near. The generation that lives to see those signs will
not pass away, all will then be fulfilled within that generation
(verses 32-35).
But of that specific day of His return no ones knows but
only the Father (verse 35).
It will be in that time, that the world will go on its merry
way as much before. People will work, will marry, will eat, will
feats, there will be nations trading, fighting each other, all as
the book of Revelation tells us about. People will be living what
to them will be at that time, the normal way of life. They will
be so deceived by Satan and his demons, they will in the main,
have no clue they are in the last days of this age, and Jesus is
about to return (verses 37-39).
The last words of verse 39 "the coming of the Son of man be"
LEADS INTO verses 40 and 41. "Then shall two be in the field; the
one shall be taken, and the other left. Two grinding at the mill;
the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for
you know not what hour your Lord does come."
The CONTEXT is the VERY DAY, the literal 24 hour day, that
Jesus will return to earth. It is not the context of before or
during the Great Tribulation. It is not the context of the "day
of the Lord" but it is the context of the very literal 24 hour
day that Jesus will come back to this earth, and so indeed the
resurrection of the dead saints, and the instant changing of the
saints living on earth. It is the context of the saints being
gathered TOGETHER by the angels to be taken to meet Christ in the
clouds. It is the context of the last trumpet sound, and the
context of 1 Corinthian 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4. It is the
context of Revelation 11:15.
At the last days, the true saints of God will not be living
in the work-a-day world of the un-converted world. The saints
will have to stand up for the truths of God, they will not take
the mark of the Beast, they will not be a part of this
Roman/Babylon world. They will have either given up their lives
in death for the commandments of God and the testimony of Christ,
or they will as I showed you above, fleeing to the place of
safety in the WILDERNESS of this earth, as true saints of God did
during the middle and dark ages, to escape the persecution of
Babylon Mystery religion. The saints of God when the very day
come for Jesus to return to earth, will be out of the world, out
of society per se. They will not be driving buses, flying planes,
or any such work. They will be in various situation that could be
with un-converted people around them to some degree, and so it
will be that if that is the case, when Jesus comes, the saint
will disappear from the view of the unconverted, for the saint
will be changed in the twinkling of an eye, to be taken by the
angels to meet Christ in the clouds.
That is what Jesus is saying here in verses 32-42. It has
nothing to do with any "secret rapture."
The true disciple of the Lord must always watch his life
style and conduct. For even in the last days, when God's people
are scattered in the wilderness protection, they may loose sight
of what day or month it is, they may not have their lap-tops with
them, or radio, or TV, or cell-phones etc. They may well, some of
them, loose where they are in the time of the last 42 months. God
MAY decide to lengthen the days overall (but cut them short so
not all flesh will die - verse 22), after all He is God not us,
and He can decide what He wants to do with His plan and work. The
point is Jesus was making sure that His disciples did NOT TAKE
ANYTHING FOR GRANTED and should always be doing the work and
living the life that is good and acceptable to God in the last
days, for indeed there will be not one person on earth (not even
the two witnesses in Jerusalem) that will KNOW THE DAY of Christ
literal triumphant return to earth.
We have to be ready all the time, for in our death, we are
in the next moment of life with Jesus at His coming back to earth
to reign for 1,000 years. That is the teaching of verses 42-51.
THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL PREACH TO THE WORLD
Jesus said the Gospel would be preached to the world and
then the end would come - Matthew 24:14. Certainly the Two Witnesses
in Jerusalem during the last 42 months of this age, will do so (Rev.11).
But most miss the angel that does so in Revelation 14:6-7.
"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having
the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth,
and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people; Saying with
a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His
judgment is come, and worship Him that made heaven, aand earth,
and the sea, and the fountains of waters."
Then in verses 14-20 we have the Son of man coming upon a white cloud,
the winepress of the great wrath of God, the battle of Armageddon takes
place outside the city of Jerusalem (see also Rev. chap.16:12-16).
THERE IT IS FRIENDS. NOT VERY HARD TO PUT TOGETHER WHEN YOU
ARE WILLING TO PUT IT TOGETHER AS A CHILD WOULD DO.
OH IT IS SO TRUE THOUGH AS JESUS SAID, "I THANK YOU FATHER
THAT YOU HAVE HIDDEN THESE THINGS FROM THE WISE AND THE PRUDENT,
AND HAVE REVEALED THEM UNTO BABES!"
...................
Keith Hunt (January 2009)
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