Up until today, Christians around the world have been persecuted and have died for their faith in Jesus Christ. Why should it be any different for us or the generation living before the tribulation time? I really have no answer as to why God will rapture the Church but there is a valid argument for why it will happen.
II Thessalonians 2: 3-7 “No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? And you know what restrains him now, so that he will be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is removed.”
Now, most Dispensationalist Christians believe the one who restrains mentioned in the scripture above is the Holy Spirit. We also know that Acts 2:38 says “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” So, if all Christians have the Holy Spirit indwelling them. What happens to those Christians if the Holy Spirit is removed.
Is it likely that the Christians will remain behind as men without the Holy Spirit? No, I believe that that is most unlikely. Is it likely that this happens immediately before the Second Coming. No, because the scripture says that the Man of Lawlessness is not revealed until the Restrainer is removed and so this is the beginning of the Tribulation Time.
So, does this mean that the Holy Spirit indwells the Christians and that if He is removed so is the Church. I believe that to be the most likely solution to understanding about the coming Rapture. It fits in elegantly with the description of the role of Israel in the Book of Revelation.
Revelation 7: 1-8 “After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back its four winds so that no wind would blow on land or sea or on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, with the seal of the living God. And he called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: “Do not harm the land or sea or trees until we have sealed the foreheads of the servants of our God. And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel: From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000, from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000, from the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000, from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, and from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.”
Just before the Tribulation begins God selects 12.000 people from the Twelve Tribes of Israel. 12,000 x 12,000 or, 144,000 selected from each of the Twelve Tribes of Israel to carry the gospel throughout the Earth in the Tribulation Time. The next scripture in Chapter Seven describes the great multitude who were saved as a result of the ministry of the Two Witnesses and the 144,000 sealed of God taking the gospel to the nations.
The obvious question here is why them and why not the Church? So, where is the Church in the Tribulation Time? Simply put, they have been Raptured and are in Heaven with Christ Jesus. They have been spared the time of testing.
Revelation 3:10 “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”
No comments:
Post a Comment