Promise of Victory #1: The Rapture
Our first promise of victory is the Rapture of the Church. This is an event that is often confused with the Second Coming, but they are not the same. A careful study of the Scriptures reveals that the return of Jesus is going to be in two stages: first the Rapture, and then the Second Coming.
The fact that these two are separate events can easily be demonstrated. For example, there are only two detailed descriptions in the New Testament of the return of Jesus. Only two! One is in 1 Thessalonians 4 and the other is in Revelation 19. If you will look at those in detail, you will find something very interesting. The two passages are as different as night and day, which raises a major theological question. The two passages describing the return of Jesus have absolutely nothing in common except that they both focus upon Jesus Christ. And, they could not be any more different.
For an example, let me show you how different they are. In 1 Thessalonians 4, Jesus appears in the heavens. He does not come to earth. In Revelation 19, Jesus returns to the earth.
In 1 Thessalonians 4, Jesus appears in the heavens for His Church. In Revelation 19, He returns to the earth with His Church.
In 1 Thessalonians 4, Jesus appears as a deliverer to deliver His children from this wicked world, but in Revelation 19 He returns as a warrior to pour out the wrath of God.
In 1 Thessalonians 4, Jesus appears in grace. In Revelation 19, He returns in wrath.
In 1 Thessalonians 4, He appears as a Bridegroom for His Bride the Church, but in Revelation 19 He returns to earth as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
How then can these two passages be reconciled? Well, I believe that the only way that they can really be reconciled is to conclude that they are talking about two different events. Therefore, the Second Coming of Jesus is going to be in two stages: first the Rapture, and then later the Second Coming.
Incidentally, this reconciliation solves another problem, for the Bible says repeatedly that the return of Jesus is imminent, in that is it can happen at any moment. But, how can it be imminent if there is only one future coming? If you only believe in one future coming, what's called the Second Coming, then the return of Jesus is not imminent. Imminent means it can happen at any moment. But, if you only believe in the Second Coming and don't believe in the Rapture, the return of Jesus is not imminent. There's no way in the world He could come back today. And why's that? Because there are prophecies that have to be fulfilled.
Here's the point, if there is only one future coming, then the Lord's Return in not imminent because there are many prophecies that must be fulfilled before He can return to earth. There's a whole passel of them, as we say in Texas. I'll just list you a few:
There must be seven years of Tribulation.
There must be the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem.
There must be the revelation of the Antichrist.
There must be the killing of the Two Witnesses.
The desecration of the Temple by the Antichrist.
The institution of the Mark of the Beast.
The salvation of the Jewish remnant.
All of those are things that must happen before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The point again is this the only way the Lord's return can be imminent is for there to be a Rapture that is separate and apart from the Second Coming, and which can occur any moment without the fulfillment of any prophecies.
This reconciliation solves another problem, in that the Bible says that no one can know the date of the Lord's return (Mat. 24:36,42). No ands, ifs, or buts about it. There are a lot of sincere people who think they do know when the Rapture will occur, but they don't truly know.
The Bible does say that we can know the day of the Lord's return at His Second Coming, though. I don't know if you've ever thought about this or not, but here is the problem - the date of the Second Coming can be calculated precisely. It will be exactly 2,520 days or seven prophetic years, that is 360 days to a year, from the day the Tribulation begins. From the moment when the Antichrist signs that treaty guaranteeing the peace of Israel, you can count down 2,520 days until Jesus will return. We can know the exact date of the Second Coming.
Therefore, the statement about not knowing the date must apply to the Lord's appearing in the Rapture and not in the Second Coming. So, when we hear talking about how you cannot know the date, we are talking here about the Rapture. We are not talking about the Second Coming.
Again, the solution is two future comings - first the appearing of the Lord for His Church at the Rapture, and then the return of Jesus at the Second Coming.
In the third segment of our study on God's promises of victory, we'll look at the second - the Second Coming.
God's Promises of Victory: The Second Coming
This brings us to the second great prophetic event of triumph that we can look forward to. Boy, what a day this will be! That is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
The Bible says Jesus will return to this earth at the end of seven years of great Tribulation. He will return to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem from which He ascended into heaven. This will occur when the Jewish people have come to the end of themselves as a result of the persecution they experienced in the Tribulation, motivating them to turn their hearts to God. That is one of the fundamental purposes of the Tribulation. There are several purposes, but one is to bring the Jewish people to the end of themselves so that they will no longer look to the United States or anybody else, but they will turn their hearts to God because that's the only person they will have to turn to.
When Jesus comes, we are told, the remnant of the Jews will look upon Him whom they have pierced and they will weep and they will mourn as over the loss of an only son. They will look upon Yeshua and they will cry out, "Baruch haba b'Shem Adonai," which means, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." A great remnant of the Jewish people will be saved on that day. In fact, Jesus said He would not return until the Jewish people are willing to say, "Baruch haba b'Shem Adonia."
At that point Jesus will speak a supernatural word and the Antichrist and his forces will be destroyed in the Valley of Armageddon. There is no such thing as the Battle of Armageddon. It doesn't exist. Jesus doesn't send some army out against the Antichrist and his armies. He just speaks a supernatural word. After all, this is the One who spoke and the whole universe came into existence. Jesus will speak and the Antichrist and his forces will drop dead. Their tongues will melt in their mouths, their eyeballs in their sockets, and their skin will drop off. It's no wonder that the Valley of Armageddon will be filled with blood as deep as a horses bridle for a distance of 200 miles. There's going to be hundreds of millions of people in that valley when Jesus Christ speaks.
Jesus will then resurrect the Old Testament saints. You see, the Old Testament saints are not a part of the Bride of Christ. When the Rapture occurs, that's for the Church. The Church is the Bride of Christ. The Old Testament Saints according to Daniel 12 will be resurrected at the end of the Tribulation at the Second Coming of Jesus. They will be resurrected as will the Tribulation martyrs, and they will receive their glorified bodies at that point.
Jesus will then judge all of those who are still left alive at the end of the Tribulation - both the Gentiles and the Jews -All left alive will be judged at the Sheep-Goat Judgment. The saved will be allowed to enter the Millennium in the flesh, but those who are not saved will be consigned to death and to Hades.
In the fourth segment of our study on God's promises of victory, we'll look at the third - the Millennium.
God's Promises of Victory: Four Triumphant Events
What are the four major prophesied triumphant events that born again children of God can look forward to with confidence?
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the evil that is abounding in the world? Do you sometimes wonder if righteousness is going to be extinguished and evil and is going to triumph? Well, I have incredibly good news for you. The Word of God promises that one day soon those of us who are Christians will witness complete victory over the evil forces of this world! For the details about that great victory, read on.
We live in a world that is full of gloomy news. Each night the television news is full of stories about murders, rapes, child abuse, political corruption, revolutions, plagues, and even natural disasters. As we are assaulted by all this bad news, it's easy for us to become discouraged and depressed. The result is that we live in a world that desperately needs hope. And I am pleased to say that God's Word provides it.
I want to present you with a summary of that hope. And, I'm going to do so by presenting some of the highlights from a presentation I made in Lamb & Lion Ministries' 2011 Bible Conference. My presentation was titled, "The Promise of Victory."
The Best of Times
In his great novel about the French Revolution called, A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens began the story with some of the most memorable words in all English literature. Here is what he wrote:
"It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom. It was the age of foolishness. It was the epic of belief. It was the epic of incredulity. It was the season of light. It was the season of darkness. It was a spring of hope. It was the winter of despair."
These words have never been truer than they are today. Everywhere we look in every direction, the world seems literally to be falling apart. We are racked by wars and rumors of wars. Immorality and violence are rampant. Our money is being devalued and debased. Our educational systems have been hijacked by Humanist and by Atheists. Our political systems are grid locked by value wars and corruption. All of nature seems to be reeling out of control producing one calamity after another.
And our churches are being destroyed by rampant apostasy. True Christianity is under attack from all sides and Christians are being marginalized as nothing in the world but a bunch of intolerant bigots.
Yet, despite all this economic, social and political chaos, I would say it is also the best of times because all of these developments are a fulfillment of End Time Bible prophecies that point to the imminent return of Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself said society would be as immoral and as violent as in the days of Noah. And, He said that when we see that immorality and violence developing that we are to look up and we are to be watchful because our redemption will be drawing near.
Those of us who have committed our lives to Jesus may see all that is dear to us literally disintegrate before our very eyes, but we are going to win in the end. We may suffer terrible persecution, but we are going to win in the end. We may see the collapse of the dollar and the fall of the United States as a world power, but we are going to win in the end.
How can I be so confident? Because the Bible promises ultimate victory, and I know for certain that the Bible is true.
Our Promised Victory
What is our promised victory? Let me summarize it for you very quickly.
We are promised that at any moment right now we will be taken out of this world in what is called the Rapture of the Church.
We are promised that God will then pour out His wrath on wicked world leaders who currently thumb their noses at Him.
We are promised that Jesus will then return to reign over all the world in majesty and glory from Mount Zion in Jerusalem and the world will be flooded with peace, righteousness and justice as the waters cover the sea.
We are promised that we will ultimately be given an eternal home on a New Earth that has been refreshed and refurbished and perfected as the original earth was. And, we are promised that we will live eternally on that New Earth in glorified, immortal bodies in the presence of our Creator and our Savior.
Again, how could I be certain of these promises? Because the Bible tells me so, and the Bible can be trusted as the infallible Word of God. And, how do I know that? Because it is the only book in the world that has fulfilled promises.
I don't know if you ever thought about that or not. There is not one fulfilled prophecy in the Koran. There is not one fulfilled prophecy in the Hindu Vedas. There is not one fulfilled prophecy in the sayings of Buddha or Confucius. There is not one fulfilled prophecy in the Book of Mormon.
The Bible is the only book in the world that contains fulfilled promises, and not just prophecies about the Messiah, but prophecies about cities and towns, and nations and individuals. The only one is the Bible!
The Bible contains 109 prophecies about the First Coming of Jesus, and every one of which were literally and precisely fulfilled. Because they were literally and precisely fulfilled, we can be absolutely confident that all the prophecies about the Messiah's return and triumph will be precisely and literally fulfilled.
Let's take a quick look an overview at God's Plan for the ages. There are four major prophesied triumphant events that we can see on the horizon that we as born again children of God can look forward to with confidence. One is the Rapture. Then comes the Second Coming, then the Millennium, and then Heaven.
In the second segment of our study on God's promises of victory, we'll look at the first - the Rapture.
How God Saves Men
Believing Christ DIED, that’s HISTORY.
Believing Christ DIED for YOU SINS and Rose again that’s SALVATION.
Read Romans 1:16, Romans 10:9-10 and 1. Corinthians 15:1-4
Believing Christ DIED for YOU SINS and Rose again that’s SALVATION.
Read Romans 1:16, Romans 10:9-10 and 1. Corinthians 15:1-4
(A 10 Minute Video)
Posted By Cecil and
Connie Spivey
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