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The church is not a building, but a community of imperfect people who are being transformed by God's grace.
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Letter from the Pastor
Read 1 Thess. 4:13-18. The rapture is the event in which millions of Christians are carried away instantly into Heaven. Those who will be left behind will be confused to say the least. Husbands will look for their wives, wives look for their husbands, one or both will look for their children, people who thought they were Christians will call their Pastors to ask them what has happened but most won’t be here to answer, we see & hear of how the news & our government are hyping up the UFO appearance. Congress had a meeting about UFO’s in 1966, In 2017, they have had 1. Since 2022, they have had at-least 9. I believe TV reporters will report this as some kind of alien abduction, the government will try & convince people not to worry, chaos like never before will surround them as they search for answers & we need to recognize the signs of the end times. Read Matt. 16:1-3. End time events that precede the rapture are being played out before our very eyes. Re-birth of Israel in Is. 66:8, Amos 9:14-15.We are seeing the Re-gathering of the Jews in Jer. 16:14-15, Jer. 23:7-8,Is. 11:12, Ez. 37:1-10.Departure from the truth in 1 Tim. 4:1-2. “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron” Also in Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good & good evil, who put darkness for light & light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet & sweet for bitter” Read 2 Thess 2:9-11: Many are dillusional. Globalism, one world currency. Political tension, natural disasters & disease outbreaks that are escalating. More & more professed believers are falling away from the Church. Now the Bible was translated to Latin in the 4thcentury called the Latin vulgate. The Latin word for rapture is rapturo means to snatch away & the Greek word is “Harpazo” which means to catch away or catch up, # 726 in Strong’s concordance. This will be a time of great joy for many but for others it will be a time of regret, shame, shock, judgment & wrath. Many Christians argue over silly things like should women teach or preach, should a Church have elders or deacon, can a woman be a deacon. This stuff won’t keep us out of heaven but what will keep you out of Heaven is if you don’t believe that there is only 1 way to our Father & that’s through J.C. & that we are saved by grace & not works & these issues are Non-negotiable. These truths cannot be compromised. Now most theologians, pastors, preacher see John’s Come up here in Rev. 4 as the Church being caught up at the rapture with Ch. 6-19, the tribulation, the Church is not mentioned. Why, because the Church simply will not be here. Is this important? Not really because it won’t affect our salvation however it is important enough to us for Jesus to tell us in his word about the timing of this event. Why? Well, I would like to know if me & my loved ones will be here through this time. I’ll bet every one of you are interested in knowing if you will have to endure this time, right? If you believe what the worldwide Church of God, pillar of truth & most Catholics say’s, then you will be here during this time.Now nowhere in the Bible will you find this word & the anti- rapture crowd will let you know it too but did you know the word Trinity or Bible or millinium are not in the bible either? But there is a trinity & this is the Holy Bible & the rapture is also a reality. Read Text: Now, there are 2 phases of the second coming; the rapture is the 1st phase in which Jesus comes for His Church & the 2nd phase in which Jesus comes with His Church! So the Church at Thessalonica were worried that Jesus would return & those who had already died were going to be left behind in their graves so Paul reassures them that those who are alive will certainly not precede those that have fallen asleep which is a euphemism for death. So the question is not whether there will be a rapture of the church, the question is the timing of this event? Well, there are 3 views that are the most widely accepted. #1: “The post tribulation view” These are those who view that Christ will rapture the Church at the end of the Tribulation. Here are some reasons why this is not the correct view: Post tribs equate the rapture with the 2nd coming of Christ in Mt. 24:29-31. But we are to understand that Mt 24:29-31 & 1 Thess. 4:17 are 2 separate events & when you examine both passages carefully you’ll see that in Matthew, the Son of man comes on clouds, in 1 Thess 4, the ascending believer are in the clouds. In Mt. the angels gather the elect or believers & in Thess, the Lord himself gathers the believers. In Mt. it mentions nothing about a resurrection but in Thess, it’s the central point. In 1 Thess the believers are gathered in the air while in Mt. the elect are gathered after Jesus arrival on earth. Now, In Mt. 24:36, 42, 50, 25:13, 1 Thess 4:18, Titus 2:13, 1 John 2:28 & 3:2-3 indicates that Jesus arrival will come when nobody expects it. The second coming on the other hand comes after many events, such as; the rise of the Antichrist in Rev. 12:13-17, Zech. 13:7-9, a treaty with Israel Dan. 9:27, Rebuilding of Jewish temple Mt. 24:15, 2 Thess. 2:3-4 as well as plagues, judgments & persecution that destroys most of the world’s population so it can’t be the rapture of the church because the rapture could happen without warning & the 2nd coming is preceded by many signs. Post-tribs also face a difficulty in explaining the absence of the word church in all biblical passages related to the trib. They assume that the word saintsin Rev 4 -21 means the church. The simple fact is, the saints are those who will receive Christ during that time. One of the strongest arguments against a Post-Tribulation Rapture is found in Daniel 12:11. The Bible plainly teaches that from this event until the end of the Tribulation will be 1,290 days or 3 1/2 years. They use 1 Cor. 15:51-52 to prove a post view. So let’s look at it. “I show you a mystery” What mystery? Let’s suppose you began reading the bible in Genesis 1 thru 1 Cor: 14. If you stopped reading here, you would have learned many important facts but you would be forced to conclude that a Christian could get to Heaven only after physically dying. But now the secrets out, millions of Christian will reach Heaven without dying. This is the mystery of the Rapture. 2 Thess. 2:1-3. They try & prove a post trib rapture here by the way Paul introduces his topic. Read. The 2ndis Mid-Trib view: This view argues that the rapture will occur at the midpoint of the 7years of tribulation.They teach that only the last half of Daniel’s 70th Week is tribulation. They insist on a removal of the church to heaven prior to the time of the wrath of God which we went over in our Bible study. Many problems but the main problem as with post is found in 2 Thess 2:6-7; Read. So the rapture & the removal of the restrainer occur at the same time. Paul assured them that the anti-Christ would not be revealed until a restraining force would be taken away. Because the revealing of the anti-Christ coincides with the beginning of the trib. Dan.9:27, then the restrainer has to be taken out of the way & the restraining force that the restrainer works thru has to be removed first. Now, who is this restrainer? Has to be H.S. because the power to restrain Satan’s power filled anti-Christ has to be of God. Also the trib is for Israel’s redemption & not ours. In the book of Mt. whose primary audience are the Jews, Jesus explains to his Jewish followers what life would be like during the trib period. These texts & others show that the trib is meant for the redemption of the Jewish people & not the church, this is why the church is never mentioned. This is our view. Now, the Bible records the church will be busy with 2 events & neither of them have anything to do with suffering in a world that’s being destroyed. #1: “Judgement by God on the just” This Judgment determines our rewards. 2 Cor. 5:10 “For we must all appear before the Bema or Judgement seat of Christ that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done whether good or bad” Read Rev. 19:6-9: So the great multitude are the Christians who have been caught up before the tribulation & we are the spiritual wife or bride of Jesus. #2: “Marriage supper of the Lamb” The bride which is us have been made ready, well, how can that be if the bride which is us is down here? A gentleman visiting a certain school gave out that he would give a prize to the pupil whose desk he found in the best order when he returned. “But when will you return?” some of them asked. “That I cannot tell,” was the answer. A little girl who had been noted for her disorderly habits announced that she meant to win the prize. “You!” her schoolmates jeered; “why, your desk is always out of order.” “Oh but I mean to clean it the first of every week” “But suppose he should come at the end of the week?” someone asked. “Then I will clean it every morning” “But he may come at the end of the day.” For a moment the little girl was silent. “I know what I’ll do,” she said decidedly, “I’ll just keep it clean.” I wonder how many are waiting for the return of Christ? How many of you are watching for his return? He is coming – ready or not. Jesus return to rapture His church is imminent ready or not. The question is will you be ready?
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