Are you excited about the rapture?

[TheBlade]

On 9/26/2023 at 1:20 PM, SpiritSong said:

As we know the end is very near, what are your feelings about the rapture? Are you excited? Are you afraid? Do you feel prepared? 

I used to be afraid because of the scary time surrounding the event, and also, I was afraid of God, that I wasn't worthy of being with Him. But praise God for his grace! It's not by works but by faith that we are His!

Thoughts?

Praise GOD glory to JESUS. Always watching always ready. Always thinking about Him. Always living as if NOW is the moment. Does hurt to see some not ready not watching.

Now the year is 2023 and we have the world of information in are fingers yet some still will not search " None of that pre-trib Darby stuff.". It never started there. I have posted as well as others how some back in 300-400AD (scrolls anyone can read) telling of Christ coming before the great tribulation. Then others before 300ad. But we jump back from 1830 and also in 1600's. Yeah written. So anyone that ignores this its not worth debating. It proves nothing other then there were those that watched ready for Christ to come before the great tribulation. I didn't even touch those of this world that wrote about it

We need to remember not to let anyone steal our joy or our crown. Bless you so much for posting this. 

[Neighbor]

12 hours ago, Slibhin said:

How does this even logically follow what I just said?

Oh it makes sense from the  prospective of those that  have an appreciation of the soon (Quick) return of Yeshua. Both the return for His own, the catching up of the church body, in many individuals eyes "the rapture",  are part of the hope certain  for those called out to their eternal life with God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,- all the one triune God.

I know that to those not yet called to that by the Holy spirit it is foolishness, understandably so as there is no capacity to see and understand until God lifts the veil at his own good pleasure and in His own time. Till that happens there is no logic  that can be seen.

What  many of us ( Christians) often forget is we too where the very same way, not having yet been called out to knowing our eternal salvation in Christ( Jesus) Yeshua. 

Rapture or taking  by God is not so new a thought. There are accounts of at least seven raptures. Enoch being one account.

" So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years.  And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him."

2nd Kings shares of another rapture- that of Elijah "Suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind."

Though not all Christian sects  agree or even see a rapture of the church of Jesus, many  do, and  tend to think that it may occur at any moment. Other Sects think there are yet prophecies to be fulfilled and then a rapture of the church will occur, still others say what rapture?

As for myself I am content, content in that the Holy Spirit of God called me to my own repentance of my sin against God, onto seeing Yeshua is God my Lord and  savior. After that experience I am game for most anything that  may happen. For I am secure, eternally secured to be with God.

May God soon bless you with that same wondrous experience! Look for it, listen, ask of God for it even.

[Retrobyter]

39 minutes ago, Slibhin said:

Well since I don't have the capacity to understand I'm not responsible for my unbelief! Praise Hashem.

Shalom, Slibhin.

Rav Sha'uwl said to the Athenians,

Acts 17:24-31 (NIV)

24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the LORD of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything. Rather, He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ (From the Cretan philosopher Epimenides.)  As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’ (From the Cilician Stoic philosopher Aratus.)

29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked (WINCED AT) such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

And, Yeeshuwa` Himself, speaking of Himself in the third person, said,

John 5:16-30 (NIV)

16 So, because Jesus (Yeeshuwa`) was doing these things on the Sabbath (Shabbat), the Jewish leaders began to persecute Him. 17 In His defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I too am working.” 18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill Him; not only was He breaking the Sabbath (the Shabbat), but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.

19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does. Yes, and He will show Him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom He is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent Him.

24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. 25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in Himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in Himself. 27 And He has given him authority to judge because He is the Son of Man (a true human being).

28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but Him who sent me."

HaShem IS His Father!

Edited September 28, 2023 by Retrobyter

[Rick-Parker]

20 hours ago, Slibhin said:

How does this even logically follow what I just said?

Do you believe in the afterlife, in Heaven and Hell? That is how it is "logical."

[Sower]

6 hours ago, Slibhin said:

Well since I don't have the capacity to understand I'm not responsible for my unbelief! Praise Hashem.

I don't have the capacity to understand I'm not responsible for my unbelief!

 

Ignorance is bliss, or so some think.

Some are born blind.
Some blindness is self inflicted.

Then there is the god of this world.

Because he has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the good news.

You can chose to hear, or you chose not, and have ears that do not hear, eyes that do not see. Ask your God you worship to remove the scales, if any, from your eyes, should you be so bold, and believe your God will hear you. The one and only God, the creator God, your God, has ears that can hear, you,  Slibhin.
          You have not because you ask not.

No, I ment it for good! (I was also blinded till I heard the truth, and desire you to know the truth too )              Choose you this day...

[farouk]

20 hours ago, TheBlade said:

Praise GOD glory to JESUS. Always watching always ready. Always thinking about Him. Always living as if NOW is the moment. Does hurt to see some not ready not watching.

Now the year is 2023 and we have the world of information in are fingers yet some still will not search " None of that pre-trib Darby stuff.". It never started there. I have posted as well as others how some back in 300-400AD (scrolls anyone can read) telling of Christ coming before the great tribulation. Then others before 300ad. But we jump back from 1830 and also in 1600's. Yeah written. So anyone that ignores this its not worth debating. It proves nothing other then there were those that watched ready for Christ to come before the great tribulation. I didn't even touch those of this world that wrote about it

We need to remember not to let anyone steal our joy or our crown. Bless you so much for posting this. 

@TheBlade According to the NT indeed, the coming of the Lord Jesus for His people is linked with the Lord's Supper, 1 Corinthians 11.26.

[Revelation Man]

On 9/26/2023 at 6:58 PM, other one said:

It shouldn't matter.

We will be resurrected  and those alive will be changed in a moment.....    we shouldn't loose the good thoughts and beat each other up fighting over when.   It spoils the good word of it's happening and shows the ugliness that Christians are capable of..

If it had no effect we could let it go, it will have a huge effect on lives saved. I will try to give an example why, to the best of my abilities.

There is a reason Jesus stated the doors to the wedding would be locked, and those left out will be cast into outer darkness. Those not in the Rapture will of course be in the troubles/God's Wrath/Anti-Christs rules, which both parallel. 

So, we need to teach the Pre Trib Rapture and the consequences of not making the Wedding call (even 50 percent of "Christians" will miss the call). Why is this so important? If a young man misses the call, or a young lady, or maybe even some older types, Satan is going to have 1001 tricks up his sleeves on how to get these people to accept the Mark of the Beast. He might beat their girlfriends up, or torture their parents, or cut off all food via buying and selling etc. etc. 

Most of these types will give in to this pressure, they will not die for Christ's names sake, so they will be doomed to hell, all because they heard someone say, Hey, everyone of us are going to have to go through this "Tribulation Period" no matter what. Thus they think like this, hey, I am young, I got time, plus we must all go through the tribulation anyway, so I might as well wait. Well, that is just not what is going to happen, Jesus' Bride will be in heaven. So, it really, really matters, because if we can warn these people with facts, and get them to accept Christ Pre Trib they will not be here during the tribulation period. Many lives will be lost, IMHO, because of this teaching, that is the ONLY REASON it matters to me, if it cost no lives it of course would not matter. 

Edited October 4, 2023 by Revelation Man

[Retrobyter]

37 minutes ago, Slibhin said:

Which is it? Either Hashem has blinded me or he has not.

Shalom, Slibhin.

HaShem doesn't "blind" anyone. We do that to ourselves quite well on our own.

[Vine Abider]

On 9/26/2023 at 12:20 PM, SpiritSong said:

As we know the end is very near, what are your feelings about the rapture? Are you excited? Are you afraid? Do you feel prepared? 

I used to be afraid because of the scary time surrounding the event, and also, I was afraid of God, that I wasn't worthy of being with Him. But praise God for his grace! It's not by works but by faith that we are His!

Thoughts?

The rapture (catching-away) is an exciting time and something to look forward to! And whether one thinks there will be a pre-trip, a mid-trip, a post-trib, a pre wrath, or . . .  As I've heard others say, "I believe in the pan-trib!  It will all just pan out!"  (sorry, old joke, but I couldn't resist)

On 9/26/2023 at 4:26 PM, AdHoc said:

Besides 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18, you can see the rapture in a number of places. One is the ten Virgins of Matthew 25. Look at the sequence.

1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. ...

In verse 1 the Virgins "went forth". They had just been given lamps. But the Bridegroom DELAYED so they all died (v.5). In verse 6 there was a shout, just like 1st Thessalonians 4. The Bridegroom is COMING. The Virgins must go out to meet Him. They already have their lamps this time and trim them. The "going forth" of verse 1 is not the "go to meet Him" of verse 6. One "going" was at the start of their Christian life, the second "going to meet him" was after they woke from their sleep. The Lord is coming from above. The only way to "meet Him" is by the Virgins RISING in resurrection and RISING in Rapture.

Sadly, the Judgment Seat did not go so well for five of the ten.

And I'm glad you brought this up, that is, there are certainly exhortations to "run the race set before us" well.  There are conditions and accountability for the children of God after being born-again, regarding "things done in the body" as per 2 Cor 5:10, when we all must appear before the judgement seat of Christ. (regarding our works, not eternal salvation)  The foolish virgins did not do or possess certain things their lord wanted.

And this kind of theme runs through so much of scripture - some of God's people will grow and mature properly and more quickly than others.  Are all still treated the same way, regardless of how they grew or what they did?  In the Old Testament, some crops ripening before the others were referred to as "first fruits" and these were to be taken directly to the temple.  Later, the general harvest would ripen (after enduring more heat) and was reaped.  It is this way with any crop - some ripen earlier.  Accordingly, there are the two reapings of God's people in Revelation 14.  In verse 4 some were "offered as first fruits to God" and then there occurs the harvest of the entire earth in verses 14-16, caught up to the cloud where the Lord is. 

But regardless of what we believe in the matter of accountability and the rapture, it all comes down to this:  BE READY!

[Retrobyter]

2 hours ago, Vine Abider said:

The rapture (catching-away) is an exciting time and something to look forward to! And whether one thinks there will be a pre-trip, a mid-trip, a post-trib, a pre wrath, or . . .  As I've heard others say, "I believe in the pan-trib!  It will all just pan out!"  (sorry, old joke, but I couldn't resist)

Shalom, Vine Abider.

Of course, all of these positions are based upon the tribulation period or "trib" for short. In all of these positions, the tribulation period is said to be a seven-year period or at least the last three and a half years of the seven-year period. But, no one can prove that the "tribulation" is at most seven years long. This assumption comes from the idea that the "tribulation" and the "seventieth Week" of Daniel 9 are talking about the same time period. However, there is NOTHING in the Scriptures that demand this conclusion. The word "tribulation" comes as the translation of the Greek word "thlipsis" ("θλῖψις"). There are just 45 occurrences of the word and its various forms in the New Testament:

Matthew 13:21; 24:9, 21, 29;
Mark 4:17; 13:19, 24;
John 16:21, 33;
Acts 7:10, 11; 11:19; 14:22; 20:23;
Romans 2:9; 5:3 (twice); 8:35; 12:12;
1 Corinthians 7:28;
2 Corinthians 1:4 (twice), 8; 2:4; 4:17; 6:4; 7:4; 8:2, 13;
Ephesians 3:13;
Philippians 1:17; 4:14;
Colossians 1:24;
1 Thessalonians 1:6; 3:3, 7;
2 Thessalonians 1:4, 6;
Hebrews 10:33;
James 1:27; and
Revelation 1:9; 2:9, 10, 22; and 7:14.

Not a ONE of these demand it be understood to be a seven-year period (or shorter by half).

The crux of the discussion is found in the correct understanding of Daniel 9, and it is NOT AT ALL describing the "tribulation," the "antichrist," or the beginning or length of the "gap" within the 70 Weeks.