The Rapture Force

While doing this study and working hard at it, the Lord poured out an understanding on me I had not grasped before. There are seven churches and Jesus is addressing them all, all of these seven churches have different doctrines, He Jesus is calling out their doctrines not the children themselves. Then It came to me that we all have these different doctrines as well as these spiritual churches, further proving to us that we are all of us from one of these churches or another, according to the doctrines we believe. Also The trials and tribulations we will go through in the end times coming soon, will finally Unite us into the one Doctrine that is Christs full gospel. Nothing like people going through hell together to bring them to Unity and to bring them to truth!

Peter says in 1 Pet 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? So we see that judgment begins at the house of God and then we go to Revelation chapter one verse 20, The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

Which begins the next chapter of the Lord calling out what He likes about these churches and then telling them what He has against them. But first He says to all who read and keep the prophecies of this book there is a blessing in reading this book. It is the only book of the bible with a promise of Blessings for reading it. So sad that so many do not find it worthy of reading,and worse that it scares them rather than blessing them as it is meant to do.

Church One, is the Church at Ephesus. The Lord begins by telling them what they are doing right. Let’s take a look. 1 To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: 2 I know thy works, and thy toil and patience, and that thou canst not bear evil men, and didst try them that call themselves apostles, and they are not, and didst find them false; 3 and thou hast patience and didst bear for my name’s sake, and hast not grown weary. 4 But I have this against thee, that thou didst leave thy first love. 5 Remember therefore whence thou art fallen, and repent and do the first works; or else I come to thee, and will move thy candlestick out of its place, except thou repent. 6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. To him that overcometh, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.

So what is it that they have against them? They gave up their first love. What does that mean exactly? We know that Jesus commandments, the two of them, were as follows. Matt 22:37 And he said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. So Jesus is telling them that they are not loving God as they once did, and to repent of this and to go back to it. Or He will remove their candle stand. This is really huge when you think about it! If your not loving God with all your might it is accounted as a sin that requires repentance.

Then He says That He likes that they hate the doctrines of the Nicolaitans, which He also hates. We will revisit this soon, because there is another Church that the Nicolaitans are mentioned in later too.

The second church is Smyrna. 8 And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These things saith the first and the last, who was dead, and lived again: 9 I know thy tribulation, and thy poverty (but thou art rich), and the blasphemy of them that say they are Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Fear not the things which thou art about to suffer: behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life. 11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

There is nothing He dislikes about the church at Smyrna, He warns them that they will suffer some trials and persecution,and to be faithful even unto death, meaning some will be killed, but not to worry, the second death at the end of all things cannot hurt them. But there is something else I want to take a look at with this church. This tribulation and these trials have not as of yet happened. This is not a church of the past. This church still exists as do all the churches. The church age is not yet done and there were no different eras of the church age. The devil has not yet taken over the earth in it’s entirety. He has not yet been the one shown to have caused the persecution of the redeemed.

There may not any longer be a physical church at Smyrna, but it is the spirit of the church which still exists. As are all the churches mentioned. There weren’t exactly physical churches in all these places, they were just places, of worship. Not necessarily physical buildings. These places, (I need to point out) of worship were not located in Israel. They were all outside of Israel. Mostly these are areas near Turkey. These areas were all ruled by Rome. Another thing I think people fail to understand, is that Revelation was written (GET THIS) After the temple was destroyed! Therefore there is nothing in here (to the churches) that is speaking to Israel. So those who say that Revelation and the tribulation are for Israel need to take a better look at these prophecies.

The next church our Lord speaks to is the church at Pergamum. 12 and to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These things saith he that hath the sharp two-edged sword: 13 I know where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s throne is; and thou holdest fast my name, and didst not deny my faith, even in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwelleth. 14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there some that hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumblin gblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication.15 So hast thou also some that hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans in like manner. 16 Repent therefore; or else I come to thee quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth.

Yikes scary this one. These are the ones who hold to some of the teachings of the nicolaitans. Those teachings of Balaam and Balak. So they had not denied the teachings of Christ that He died to save them from their sins. So then why is he so angry with their doctrines. Because Balaam taught Balak to make the Israelites to sin against God and to think they were still being faithful to God. Meaning once saved always saved. You can according to them do these things and not lose your place with the Lord,in our day it is said because Jesus did it all. There is nothing for us to do. We can go ahead and commit fornication and acts of immorality because we are safe . As a matter of fact those who believe in once saved always saved, go so far as to say you can even tell God to take a hike and He will still not ever allow you to go to hell. Now that is some messed up teaching.

He tells us to be holy as He is Holy. To endure till the end and then shall we be saved. Ask yourself to the end of what? The end of all things as we know them, the end of the rule of satan, the end of the world as it is. This ends at the day of reckoning. At the day of the Lord all this will cease to be. Then Jesus sets up His kingdom on this earth for a thousand years. The kingdom of peace where He will rule with a rod of iron. Or till the end of your life. Most people I have cared for when doing hospice, did not turn away from God,they came closer to God when they were suffering. They endured and their faith was increased the more they suffered. 1Pet 4:1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. Interesting no?

The next church is Thyatira 18 And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet are like unto burnished brass: 19 I know thy works, and thy love and faith and ministry and patience, and that thy last works are more than the first. 20 But I have this against thee, that thou sufferest the woman Jezebel, who calleth herself a prophetess; and she teacheth and seduceth my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed to idols. 21 And I gave her time that she should repent; and she willeth not to repent of her fornication.22 Behold, I cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of her works.

23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he that searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto each one of you according to your works 24 But to you I say, to the rest that are in Thyatira, as many as have not this teaching, who know not the deep things of Satan, as they are wont to say; I cast upon you none other burden. 25 Nevertheless that which ye have, hold fast till I come. 26 And he that overcometh, and he that keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give authority over the nations: 27 and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to shivers; as I also have received of my Father: 28 and I will give him the morning star.

David Wilkerson said of this church that was under Jezebels spell, I want to say, in no uncertain terms, that it is dangerous to sit under the wrong teaching. False doctrine can damn you more readily than all the lusts and sins of the flesh. False preachers and teachers are sending more people to hell than all the drug pushers, pimps and prostitutes combined. That is not an overstatement – I believe it. Multitudes of blind, misled Christians are singing and praising the Lord in churches enslaved by false doctrine. Thousands are sitting under teachers who are pouring out the doctrine of demons – and they come away saying, “Wasn’t that wonderful”?

Idolatry as we know makes the Lord call those who practice it whores. They have sold out truth for a lie. They do not endure sound teaching. They go where they will hear what they want to hear. There are so many false teachings out there and people will rip you apart for telling them their belief is wrong. That their pet doctrine is not sound according to the bible. When you show them the verses that prove their belief system is wrong they will fillet you and their favorite thing to say is that is not what it means this preacher or teacher said this is what it means. Then they go and twist the words and add or take away from it,so you cannot even recognize it as the word anymore.

The next church is Sardis. Revelation 3: 1 And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars: I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and thou art dead. 2 Be thou watchful, and establish the things that remain, which were ready to die: for I have found no works of thine perfected before my God. 3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and didst hear; and keep it, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. 4 But thou hast a few names in Sardis that did not defile their garments: and they shall walk with me in white; for they are worthy. 5 He that overcometh shall thus be arrayed in white garments; and I will in no wise blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. 6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.

Wow these are dead. These are so spiritually dead as to almost not even be recognizable that they had ever heard the Lord’s call to their hearts. I would imagine, these are they which at one time heard and received with gladness the good news, but somewhere along the way said this is too hard for me, I am done. I have a friend who at one time received the Lord as her savior and then decided that everything that could go wrong in her life went wrong and she was just not into being a Christian due to the hardships she suffered. Personally I think she was being severely tested so that the blessings she would have received would have blown her away. But she gave up and gave in and walked away. This friend is who I think of when I read this.

I notice the theme in all of this, is repent or else you’ll be blotted out, or else you will not eat of the tree of life. Or else you will suffer and I will come and kill you with the sword of my mouth. In this whole thing these people who have made the mistakes of false doctrine of wrong beliefs, are told over and over to repent. How does this work for those out there who say that one can not ever, no matter what they do, lose their salvation? How can anyone read this and not see from our Lord’s mouth Himself, that yes salvation can and will be lost?

The next church is Philadelphia. 7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and none shall shut, and that shutteth and none openeth: 8 I know thy works (behold, I have set before thee a door opened, which none can shut), that thou hast a little power, and didst keep my word, and didst not deny my name. 9 Behold, I give of the synagogue of Satan, of them that say they are Jews, and they are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. 10 Because thou didst keep the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of trial, that hour which is to come upon the whole world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. 11 I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown. 12 He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out thence no more: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and mine own new name.

13 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. In all of these letters to the churches The Lord has said after each one (though I have not included these in most of the paragraphs) ,He that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. He that hath an ear means those who hear what the spirit says to them. Those who understand when the spirit is speaking to them. The church of Philadelphia holds to the patience of the Lord,there is no rebuke hidden here there is no rebuke to this church. As a matter of fact they are promised protection through the tribulation. He tells them to keep on holding their crown of life. These are they which follow after the Lord and do not deviate from that straight and narrow path. No false doctrines can pull them away. Nothing said to them that is not of the word, can change their mind from the truth that the Spirit leads them in.

The next church the final church is the church at Laodicea. 14 And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God: 15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my mouth. 17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art the wretched one and miserable and poor and blind and naked: 18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold refined by fire, that thou mayest become rich; and white garments, that thou mayest clothe thyself, and that the shame of thy nakedness be not made manifest; and eyesalve to anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see. 19 As many as I love, I reprove and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 21 He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne. 22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. The Laodiceans to me sounds like the stupid prosperity preachings. They think that the Lord wants to make them rich. What I have found is that these teachings are so foolish and make those who would otherwise be good Christians to think that there is something wrong with their faith if they are not rich also. The ones who are rich sit there with their money and say I am rich I do not need to ask God for anything and they do not see they are so poor and in filthy worldy rags. They are neither hot nor cold for the Lord because why need they be? They have no needs they say the Lord has supplied all their needs and that is why they are rich.

They then lose their way they have a form of Godliness but deny the power thereof. Now do not get me wrong I know some very wealthy Christians who do not act or think this way. They are very giving of their time and their money. But they are very few and very far in between. Friends if you are not rich it is always a good thing. In need we always turn more to the Lord, who supplies abundantly above what we can think to ask for. Money cannot save anyones life. Only God can! Money does not buy happiness. Joy is our strength and comes only from the Lord. He is telling the laodiceans to buy their gold from Him, that has been tried in the fire. For their riches on earth, as He tells us elsewhere in the word, is temporary and it means nothing in eternity. Luke warm is not what we want to be. This also says to me that these whom He speaks of here have that one foot in the world one foot in Him kind of salvation and guess what? That is no salvation at all. With our precious Lord it is an all or nothing venture. Give Him your all, surrender totally, or just do not even bother. Being spit out of His mouth is worse than not ever having had Him.

The last thing I want to point out is this. These churches do have a spirit and an angel over them,they are real churches not in physical but in the spirit and most of them will lose their place with Him, for not repenting. These are going to be the apostates in the end time. See they were and are real churches real believers those who at one time or another have been saved and somehow lost their way. Do not be any of these churches except for two of them Smyrna,and Philadelphia. These two churches are His loves. These two churches had no rebuke from Him. The greatest of these is Love. Love the Lord your God with all your heart mind soul and body,and the second is like it,love your neighbor as yourself.

Love in Christ Jesus,Tammy

I just want to say it is of huge importance to recognize when the coming of the Lord is. Not because if you believe it a post tribulation rapture and it is a pre tribulation rapture you will miss it. I know without a single doubt not one little piece of a doubt that it is a post tribulation rapture, but pre tribulation people are always saying that we will not be accounted worthy to be a part of the rapture if we are not thinking it is imminent. It is not imminent. There is much that must occur before the day of the Lord,and being blind to the truth is very dangerous indeed in so many ways for those who just refuse to listen to the truth of the matter. What friends will you do when you find out that you have been blinded by satan and have allowed this blinding to go on? What will you do when the Lord tarries,and does not come when you believe He is supposed to? I pray that you will be prepared and strong because you are going to need it.

Now on to the last of the verses.

Isaiah 27:1 In that day, the LORD will punish with his sword, his fierce, great and powerful sword, Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; he will slay the monster of the sea.

Joel 2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand.

Joel 2:11 The LORD thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty are those who obey his command. The day of the LORD is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it?

Zephaniah 1:15 That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness.

Zechariah 14:6-9 On that day there will be no light, no cold or frost. 7 It will be a unique day, without daytime or nighttime–a day known to the LORD. When evening comes, there will be light. 8 On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter. 9 The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name.

Malachi 3:2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.

1 Corinthians 1:8 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 5:5 hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.

Philippians 1:6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.

Philippians 2:16 as you hold out the word of life–in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.

1 Thessalonians 5:2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

2 Thessalonians 1:10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you. This is clearly saying YOU!!!. I do not see how people so easily ignore the word of God in it’s entirety. I cannot understand any longer how this occurs. It personally made me ask a huge amount of questions,that no one could answer,when I was a pre tribulationist.

2 Thessalonians 2:2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come.

2 Timothy 4:8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day–and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. A one time awarding of crowns, on THAT DAY!!! The Last day,the only return of Christ.

2 Peter 3:12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.

1 John 4:17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.

Lamentations 2:22 “You have called as in a solemn day my terrors round about, so that in the day of the LORD’S anger none escaped nor remained: those that I have swaddled and brought up has my enemy consumed.”

Isaiah 13:9 “Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.”

Isaiah 34:8 “For it is the day of the LORD’S vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion.”

Joel 3:14 “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.”

Joel 3:12 “Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I it to judge all the heathen round about.”

Zachariah 12:11 “In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.”

Malachi 4:5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD”
Acts 2:20 “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come”

Isaiah 13:13 “Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.”
Proverbs 6:34 “For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.”

Isaiah 61:2 “To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn”
Isaiah 63:4 “For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.”

Job 21:30 “That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? They shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.”
Proverbs 11:4 “Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivers from death.”

Romans 2:5 “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasures up unto yourself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God”.

For now dear sisters and brothers this is it. I will as the weeks and months go along refer back to certain of these scriptures and possibly even all of them at one time or another,and will even put different ones down,as I explain this all out. I am sorry if I repeated any verses.

We can comfort ourselves with the knowledge that we are not due God’s wrath or anger. We are though going to go through severe trials and persecution. Christ tells us we will suffer persecution and our families will turn us over to persecution in the end times,but there is one church of the seven churches that is promised protection through it. That church is the church of Philadelphia the church of love,who believes in the power of the Holy Spirit. But that is for another lesson.

May God Bless you and hold you in His hands at all times. We must endure and keep on loving and yes even praising Him as we go through trials,we do not want our running this race to have been for nothing when He comes.

One last remark I must make. People do not study the book of Revelation for many reasons,all of them are a cop out. It is just not smart to ignore the fulfillment of the word of the Lord,the ending. Also it is the only book of the bible that tells us we will be blessed for reading it. Revelation 1:3 Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

So in closing,I just want to say,what is the day of the Lord? It is the fulfillment of every promise,every prophecy. It is God’s wrath on a sinful world,and on evil. This day and it is a one day event,has been stored up within God for centuries,for thousands of years. No one will stand against the Lord in that great and terrible day. The day of the Lord is His vengeance being wreaked on the whole of evil men and fallen angels.

Love in Christ Jesus,Tammy

So many people find themselves believing that the day of the Lord is different from the day of the rapture. But they are one and the same. There is biblically only one return of Jesus, one second coming. One plus one do not make three, and nowhere in the word do we find this secret coming of the Lord for His bride. When the bride groom comes for his bride, it is always with much fanfare. There will be no difference when Christ comes for His bride. It will be preceded by a Trumpet blast and a loud shout from the archangel.

I know what your thinking you who find it hard to understand that God would have you go through trials and tribulations. The verse your thinking of is the one about the thief in the knight. 1Thess 5:2 and also 2Peter 3:10 both state the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. So now let us examine that. We know the day of the Lord is also called the last day. How do people equate this verse with a pre tribulation rapture?

There are 35 books of the bible that speak of this day, the day of the Lord. It is the most important topic of prophecies. It is the most talked about of all prophecies through the prophets. The day of the Lords revenge. Yet our churches barely ever, if ever touch on this subject. The reason being that people only ever want to hear the good stuff. They do not want to hear that there is punishment, and pastors of this day and age are only too willing to comply.

Now the next and probably bigger reason why the Day of the Lord is not preached is because it conflicts with the pre- and mid-tribulation rapture views.  That is because the Rapture happens after the great tribulation and on the Last Day of this Age…which is the Day of the Lord!  Jesus, our Lord and Savior, says this in His conversation of the end-times in Matthew 24…that He will come after the tribulation and on the Last Day of this Age.   He says in verses 21- 31: “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.

Then if any man shall say to you, ‘Look, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.  For there shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.  Behold, I have told you before.   Therefore if they shall say to you, ‘Look, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.  For as the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even to the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.  For wherever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.”

Read very carefully as Jesus continues, “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.

And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet [same trumpet of 1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thes. 4:16,17 and Rev. 11:15-18 where the seventh angel sounded the seventh and last trumpet], and they shall gather together his elect [the Rapture] from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”  Here is the order of events from Jesus in Mt. 24 -  greatest tribulation ever , then the heavenly signs of Joel and Peter (and the rest of the prophets), then His coming in the clouds, then the last trumpet, then the Rapture on the Last Day which is the Day of the Lord.

I want to give you a better understanding of this, so let’s go into another explanation and this is the first resurrection. Compared to the last. This is a much longer part. The whole reason I have to break this down is because it is going to be a huge article, and I do not want to bore you or lose you. So after this section I will end this one, and post it and go on to the next part.The next part will list all the verses or as many as I can possibly find that speak of the day of the Lord. Also above I did not mention Revelation chapter 14 but it is a huge huge part, of understanding the rapture is a last day rapture. We see the rapture in chapter 14.

Daniel realized in his vision in Daniel 12:2 that “many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt”, only he did not receive details on it.  Paul told us in Acts 24:15 “that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust”, only he didn’t know it was two different resurrections.  Jesus talked about two resurrections in John 5:28-29 when he said, “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his [i.e. the Son of Man] voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation”, only He did not tell us that there was a time span between the two and how long it was.

But thank God for John’s revelation by vision where he is told definitely that there are two resurrections separated by 1000 years in Rev. 20:1- “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3 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.

And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: 4 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 worshiped 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.  5 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.   7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.”

Some people believe the “second death” is an allusion to annihilation, but this is not the case as we shall see.  Even though the phrase “second resurrection” does not appear in this passage, it is obvious that if there is a first resurrection, there must be at least one other resurrection, or “first”, misleads us to a wrong conclusion.  The second resurrection is rather referred to as the “second death” instead to reflect its nature as being unto death rather than to life.  If it were only eternal unconsciousness or annihilation, there would be no need to have a resurrection of the body just to destroy it totally and instantaneously, and there would be no such thing as a first resurrection!

Furthermore, in Rev.19:20, 20:7, 10 we read, “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who performed miracles before him, with which he deceived them who had received the mark of the beast, and those who worshiped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone…And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison…And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”  We discover, that after 1000 years of being tormented in the lake of fire, the beast and false prophet are still being “tormented day and night for ever and ever”!  So much for any annihilation views!

Rev. 20:11-15 goes on to say that at the conclusion of the thousand years those not in the Book of Life were cast into the lake of fire which is the “second death”.  No wonder that “blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection” in verse 6!The Word of God makes it clear that the Rapture can not be a pre-trib event.  Here’s how it does.  Pre-trib Christians will say that there is a resurrection of the saved at the start of the 7 years and a resurrection of those saved during the 7 years at the end of the 7 years, but the Word says there is only ONE First Resurrection unto eternal life, for if there were more than one resurrection unto eternal life , then the Second Resurrection would not be unto eternal death!

And if there is only ONE First Resurrection, 1 Thes. 4:16 tells us when it will be: “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.  17 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.”"The dead in Christ shall rise first” is the First Resurrection, and “then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up” is the Rapture.  Do you see it?  The dead rise; then the living are caught up.  First is Resurrection, then is the Rapture.

Now Rev. 20:4 says, “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 worshiped 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.”Those who were killed through the Tribulation were raised in the First Resurrection to reign a thousand years.  So they had to be raised after the last Tribulation saints were murdered.  Now if the Rapture, according to 1Thes. 4:16,17, follows the Resurrection, then we have undeniable proof that the Rapture necessarily has to follow the First Resurrection after the death of the last Tribulation martyr has been murdered!  What could be simpler.

Just as no one knew that almost 5 centuries of time came between Daniel’s 1st and 69th weeks (of years) in Dan. 9:24-27 and maybe some 20 centuries between the 69th and 70th, so no one knew before John’s vision that one thousand years would come between the First Resurrection (of the “just” and “good”) and the Second Resurrection (of the “unjust” and “evil”).

The serious end-time student should be able to read between the lines when the point is made here.  Look at I Cor. 15:20-28 – “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept.  For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. [1000 thousand year break here] Then comes the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.   For he has put all things under his feet. But when he says all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.   And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.”

Some confusion has come into the minds of some people because they didn’t see a break in time between verses 23 and 24 where the two sections necessarily deal with events on both sides of a period of reign…and Rev. 20 tells us that Christ and the redeemed reign for 1000 years, rebellion is done away at the end of the 1000 years, death is done away with, and gives the details of this period of reign and who will reign with Him and the duration of that reign!

2 Peter 3:7-13 – “But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.  But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.  [could this preceding verse be alluding twice to the thousand years and it connecting with one day - the Day of the Lord?]

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night [1000 year break] in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God [1000 year break repeated again in this summary], wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?  Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness.”   Again, note that according to Rev. 20:7-11, fire coming down upon the earth from heaven, the old earth fleeing away happen after the 1000 years are over.

Hopefully, enough has been said to show that the Day of the Lord occurs at the end of the Age. It is a time to judge the world, for God to contend with the nations and for the Lord Jesus Christ to come, take up His rule along with the saints of God. For the Millennial earth to glorify God in the way He intended it back in the beginning before sin came into the world, through Adam and Eve. Part two follows this one. God Bless and watch over you all  in all ways. In Christ Jesus, Tammy

Jesus said Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming , in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch! Mark 13.35-37.
Jesus gave us warnings that are letting us know the great tribulation is well on it’s way. We have heard the end of the age is coming for years and years,and everyone thinks because so many have looked for it for such a long period of time that it will be a long way off. I beg to differ. All the signs are happening now all around us.

Some people say I am crazy for thinking that, the end of the age is almost on our doorstep. That the things the bible has prophesied for thousands of years are now happening. They think I am crazy for looking forward to my Messiahs arrival.That I must have a death wish, and have stopped living my life in anticipation of the Lord coming. But I am here to tell you I am alive,and excited,and am working constantly for the kingdom of the Lord. I am loving life, but as the Lord said, do not love your life so much or you will lose it.

I do not love my life so much as to work towards keeping it. I would willingly give up life on earth for a place alongside my savior,as a joint heir with Him for the kingdom of God. I am even now as I write this, living a real honest to goodness life. I am even now working to build the kingdom of God up. Every moment of every day I am working towards filling the eternal kingdom. How successful I am, I will not know until we have all reached judgment.

I am not working on earth for any treasures here. My treasure I know without a doubt, rests in the hands of the Lord,and in His home, and kingdom. I am working to amass crowns, that I may lay at the feet of my Lord. What will I need crowns for there? Not a thing I just want as many as possible to leave them at the feet of the one who deserves them all, Jesus! So though I do not have a job here on earth, at least according to some,I am working every day!!As well as working a real job here on earth, and that is taking care of my grand babies. Don’t think that is a real job? Hah I laugh at that it is a very demanding job, and I would not trade it for anything.

Now that I have that all out of my system, let’s get on with this particular article.

Matthew 24:3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” Jesus goes on from here to tell them of the signs of his second coming.4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. So what does that mean, many will come in my name? Well it means that false preachers and teachers will be plenty through out the times we are living in now. Sadly this is happening now a days,and there is plenty all around who are all too willing to teach doctrines of demons.

6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. This here says the end is not yet. Meaning there is still so much more that must happen before the end of the age. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.We see many countries coming against their own country men. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. We can see and have seen for many years famines across the earth,but it will be 1/4 of the world who dies from famine, in the tribulation. We see here that there will be earthquakes in various places.We see even now some places that have never had this particular problem before, are experiencing earthquakes. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. We see this is merely the start to our major problems. Not the end times as of these verses,but the next ones are during the last 7 year period of this age.

9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. What exactly does it mean to be delivered up to tribulation? Sadly it means persecution for loving Jesus,and living in God’s laws and statutes. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

The other day on my face book page I said, “being offended all the time, makes satan have a fertile garden to grow deceit into”. Here it says many will be offended,when we are offended,(and let’s face it we all get offended,and some just harp on that offense for a long while) Satan finds a very willing participant to imagine vengeance and such things. Satan grows our offenses into defensive and sometimes aggressive behaviors. He is a master at what he does, and that is lie to us on a constant basis. Using our own imaginations against us. Offenses can so easily be turned into hatred,with the help of satan. So do not dwell on offenses. Let them go, because seriously, most people did not mean to offend you in the first place.

See here on verse 11 Jesus warns again of false teachers and preachers. It is so important to see this and know it first hand,so you will not be deceived. How can you know who is a false teacher or preacher you ask? Well let me tell you, by knowing your word!! Meaning knowing your bible. You have got to get to know your bible, while there is still time. The bible itself warns us that people in the end times are going to be starving for the word of the Lord. I can only personally assume that means the word of the Lord is going to be outlawed, in the coming times. That right there is enough to scare me half to death. I depend on the word so very much to help me through all of my troubles and toils, and to avoid the snares put in my way.

Lawlessness is really growing all around us. Verse 12 says lawlessness will abound, and the love of many will grow cold because of that lawlessness. How can that be? Because when someone does something horrific, to someone we love or someone we know,or on a constant basis all around us, it tends to make us jaded. Jaded = worn out or wearied, as by overwork or overuse. When we become jaded then we become complacent, or just down right get nasty and hateful ourselves. In Isaiah chapter 5, it says good will be bad and bad will be good in those times. Already we begin to see that bad is good and good is bad.

For instance,foster parenting. Many places in the world will now, not allow Christians,(even those who have been foster parenting for years) to foster anymore. Why you ask? Because they are teaching the children morals,and not teaching about homosexuality. They say this is damaging children all across the world, and that children must be taught about homosexuality, so they wont become homophobes. This is so abhorrent to many Christians,and they feel shunned and persecuted, and feel as though they have prejudices against them. Which truly it is a prejudice.

The crazy part of all that is, if your Muslim and want to foster parent,(which most do not foster others children,and or adopt, but if they wanted to do so they can do it.) Even though they would have the right under their religion and sharia law, to kill the children if they became, or showed homosexual tendencies. Yeah that’s just lovely now isn’t it? I get my news from conservative world news. I do not bother with secular media.

verses 13 and 14 I wont say much on. Only that we must stay loving and kind and not adhere to the hatred and the coldness of the world. Remember we are not of this world any longer,but of the kingdom of God. And the word being preached to the whole world,well if that mission has not been completed yet,it is very near completion. I mean with technology what it is,it would be hard not to have heard of the Lord,and His saving grace.

15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.

What exactly is the abomination that causes desolation? Who really knows? I do not know for sure what that is. I know it will take place in some sort of rebuilt temple or shrine in Jerusalem, in the coming times. We have no idea of how large this temple will be. We do know that there will be one built so that Jews can again make sacrifices to the Lord. But in the middle of this 7 year treaty made with Israel,or we think it is a 7 year treaty. In the book of Daniel it is called the 70th week. We know in other places in the bible when it talks of a week that is actually 7 years it speaks of. In revelation it speaks of 42 weeks which is actually 3.5 years,that the a/c will stop the sacrifices made to God and will call himself God. He will go back on his treaty half way through the period of time he promised Israel.

So much to say,so little want of losing your attention. So I will try in this paragraph to say all I can about verses 16-22. Those who are to flee to the mountain I do believe are some of the chosen ones whom God is going to hide away in the hidden place, prepared just for them. The word tells us God will preserve a tenth of the chosen ones to repopulate the earth in the millennial kingdom. Since we who get taken out of the earth in the so called rapture, will be spiritual beings rather than human beings, and totally immortal, we would not be able to make babies. In the thousand year reign of Christ on the earth in the millennial kingdom,the word tells us there will be so many people born, they will be more than the sands of the seas. Verses 17 and 18 go on to explain there will be no time to get anything just go run for your life and get to the secret place. Once the abomination takes place in the temple.

Well I failed that!! Laughing at myself. This next verse 19 makes me want to be very fearful for babies in those days. I pray that I have no grand or great grand babies who are suckling in those days. Nor anyone who is pregnant in those days either. Jesus says woe to those who are pregnant and or suckling babies in those days. Why? I ask this all the time and have no answer,I guess we are just not to know that answer for now. But that makes for a very nerve wracking thing. Yes I said it ok!! I am fearful of what exactly that means. I just cannot think of babies suffering horribly. It makes me grieve in my spirit. In turn if a mothers child is suffering you know she will be suffering along with the child.

Verses 20,21,and 22 simply put, pray your flight is not in winter. I can only guess that those is speaks of, will be running for their lives, and will have to not even think about getting anything to keep warm with, just running. Greater tribulation than has already occurred at that time means the mark of the beast or antichrists number being absolutely mandatory,or you will get your head cut off,and so much worse than that will be done to you. Personally if I am still alive at that time,let them do their worst. I am Christs own and I will not give up that status for any torture or person on this earth. The time being shortened for the elects sake, Christs own, praise His Glorious name and shout Hallelujah!!!

23 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. 24 For false Christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 28 For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.

Again Christ is warning us to not pay attention to the false teachers and preachers who say look here He is or there He is, (Christ) it is not true. We will all (the whole world) See Christs return to first gather His elect to Him that where He is we will be forever more. Just like Lightning is seen in the sky flashing so will we see Christ. On the great and mighty day of the Lord the eagles and the vultures, all the birds of prey, will be gathered together for the feast of flesh the Lord is preparing for them, at the battle of Armageddon. This particular verse jumps ahead of the next verses. It jumps ahead of the few verses before it too.

29 “Immediately (after the tribulation of those days)( I put that in parentheses because it says after those days of tribulation. Not before as so many many people think of the rapture. These are Jesus words none others, but the Lords.) the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

This is Christ coming for His church. Because while the word tells us always,that we will suffer many and varied tribulations,it also tells us we are not due the wrath of God. The tribulation is the nations anger directed towards God, Christ,and his children, God’s wrath is like nothing before it. He will mix it up with all his anger and indignation at those who persecute even to death, His own. His chosen ones,those who have truly and completely accepted Christ as their savior. He is going to give them more hell than anyone can bear.

And then the ones who have not died from all of the anger God pours out undiluted,Christ comes and fillets them with just the word that pours forth out of His mouth like a double edged sword. We who are His own will be seated on white horses cheering on, our wonderful Savior. Our King of Kings. He will need no help, we are simply there to watch our persecutors get what we have cried out for for centuries,Vengeance. But it is not our duty to reep the vengeance,it is the Job of God,through Christ.

There is tons more I could say right now,but this is a very long article already. So I will end it for now. We will revisit Matthew chapter 24 later on in the study. I seriously could write a very long and winded book, on chapter 24 of Matthew, and give you all the other verses that show you the same picture as these particular verses portray. As we go along I will share more insights with you, as I will be writing from those very books that have the verses that show you this same exact scenario.

God Bless you all, and I really hope you enjoy what I write each week, or every other week as time permits.
Love in Christ Jesus, Tammy