Prophecy
God’s Prophetic Timetable
There are several events scheduled to take place according to God’s timetable, some on earth, some in heaven. Today we want to examine six of these events. We, the saints of God are living in the end of the Church Age, the very next event on God’s timetable is called The Rapture.
The Rapture Of The Church
In John chapter 14 Jesus gives the church a glorious promise, He says:”I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” The Rapture of the church is the fulfillment of this promise. We have two places of scripture that describes the Rapture. 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 ”For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 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. A description of the Rapture is also found in 1 Corinthians 15:51-54 it reads;” Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, 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. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. This is ample information to believe in the Rapture of the Church.
The Tribulation
Jesus himself gives us some powerful information on the coming Tribulation. Listen to what Jesus said:”When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day :For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Daniel’s prophecy takes place during the Tribulation, Daniel says in Dan.9:27 “ And he (antichrist} shall confirm the covenant with many for one week (7 years) and in the midst of the week (7yes.) he (antichrist) shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. Jesus says that the Tribulation will be the worst time to live in since man has been on the earth.
The Second Coming Of Christ
The Second of Christ is what brings the Tribulation to a close. Jesus is coming physically to earth to destroy the kingdom of antichrist and to set up His 1000 years reign on the earth. Jesus gives us some information on His second coming in Matthew 24:27-30 “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 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.” Most saints confuse Jesus second coming and the Rapture. They are two separate events separated by seven years. At the Rapture, Jesus is coming for the Church, at Jesus second coming He is coming with the church to set up the kingdom. Revelation 19:11:16 “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. (the church) And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords. This is Jesus second coming.
The Kingdom Age
The first thing that Jesus has to do before He can set up His Millennial reign is to restrain Satan, listen; “ And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.” Rev.20:1-3 This ensures that Jesus reign on the earth will be a peaceful one, for people will not be tempted to sin by Satan. The next thing that Jesus does is to resurrect the Old Testament and the tribulation Saints, the Church saints were resurrected at the Rapture. These three groups will rule and reign with Chris, listen; “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. Isaiah 11:4-9 gives us a brief description of life in the Kingdom; ”But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.
Great White Throne Judgment
In order to understand the timing of the great white throne Judgment you have to examine Rev.20:7-9” And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them”. After living in a almost perfect world, a world free of Satan, a world ruled by Jesus Christ for a 1000 years, after Satan is released from the bottomless pit, he is able to gather millions of people and convince them to rebel against God. Fire comes down from heaven and destroys this army. Now God can judge sinful humanity because now everyone that will rebelled against God has already rebelled, this was the last rebellion. In Revelation 20:11-15 John describes the judgment, listen: “ And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire”. Every wicked person from Adam and Eve’s son Cain, even to Satan’s army after Jesus Millennial reign is included.
Eternal Order
Now that sin and rebellion has been dealt with, God can now tabernacle, or dwell with man as He did in the Garden Of Eden. Listen to what the bible says about the eternal order in Rev.21 “ And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful”. The bible goes on o list groups of people that will be absent from this beautiful world. “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death”. The first death is separation from our physical bodies, the second death is separation from God for all eternity. John is given a vision of the holy city, listen. “And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal”. This New Jerusalem will hover over the earth, splendid and beautiful. God created this earth for humanity to enjoy, listen; “ And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign forever and ever” At this point every person is a child of God and has access to Earth, New Jerusalem, and Heaven. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Amen... www.drbernardajonesministries.org
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However, there is no verse that actually says God will take His people to heaven. In fact we are told the very opposite: That we must endure and stand firm in our faith during all the trials ahead.
Perhaps you could explain why God allowed millions to be martyred since Stephen and Christians are still persecuted and killed for their faith even today. Why should He suddenly change this and remove Christians, even before any trials and testing?
I suggest that you read; very carefully - Hebrews 12:7-12