Antichrist Must Come First and Stand in the Temple, Showing Himself That He is God, Causing a Great Falling Away from the Christian Faith
The Amazing Parallels of End Time Scriptures
By John Aggson Sr.Liberty To The Captives
Please check out how all these Scriptures fit together so perfectly: like pieces to a great end time puzzle, they go together to form an even greater overall picture (areas to study closely are “CAPITALIZED”):
1 Thessalonians 4:16: 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 “raising of the dead” (verse 16) is known as the “RESURRECTION” — when the Saints rise up into the air to meet the Lord or are “caught up” (verse 17) — this is known as the “RAPTURE.” According to this passage, both of these things happen together, simultaneously, as one big event! The words “caught up” come from the Latin word “Raptio” from which we get our modern word “Rapture.” Well this SAME “RESURRECTION EVENT” is spoken of in verse 5 of Revelation 20:4-6.
Revelation 20:4-6:
4) 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. 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.Notice that this “FIRST RESURRECTION” (verse 5) comes AFTER these people were beheaded by the antiChrist for refusing to take the “mark of the beast!?” (verse 4). That means that they were obviously still here during this coming horrendous time and were not raptured out beforehand! If the Rapture and Resurrection occur together, simultaneously (1 Thessalonians 4:16 & 17), then they must also occur together, simultaneously, HERE in Revelation 20:4-6 at THIS RESURRECTION! And since Revelation 20:5 says that this is the “FIRST” resurrection, then there could not have been any “pre-tribulational” — one before it, right?! Otherwise it would not be the FIRST!
It ALSO speaks here of a “JUDGMENT OF THE SAINTS” occurring at this Resurrection, in which they are rewarded for remaining “faithful unto death” during the antiChrist’s persecution (verse 4). It appears that they are raised from the dead in the Rapture and then Judged and rewarded by the Lord accordingly! Well THIS VERY SAME “JUDGMENT EVENT” is spoken of in Revelation 11:15-18 as coming at the blowing of the 7th and LAST TRUMPET of the TRIBULATION PERIOD! This, therefore, places the RAPTURE & RESURRECTION at the BLOWING OF THE 7TH and LAST FINAL TRUMPET OF THE TRIBULATION (see verse 18 below).
Revelation 11:15-18:
15) And the SEVENTH ANGEL SOUNDED; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever. 16) And the four and twenty elders which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshiped God, 17) Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power and hast reigned. 18) And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, AND THE TIME OF THE DEAD THAT THEY SHOULD BE JUDGED, AND THAT THOU SHOULDEST GIVE REWARD UNTO THY SERVANTS THE PROPHETS, AND TO THE SAINTS, AND THEM THAT FEAR THY NAME SMALL AND GREAT; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.So linking these verses all together by the association of the same events involved in each one we see that this “Rapture / Resurrection / Judgement / and Rewarding of the Saints” comes at the blowing of the LAST TRUMPET! This is exactly what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15: 51 & 52:
“51) Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52) In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the LAST TRUMP: for the TRUMPET shall sound, AND THE DEAD SHALL BE RAISED INCORRUPTIBLE, and we shall be changed.”You will notice that there is also mention of a TRUMPET being blown in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 & 17 above. There is also mention of a TRUMPET being blown at the Second Coming of the Lord in Matthew 24. As a matter of fact, these SAME THREE ELEMENTS that are found in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 & 17 above (The Coming of the Lord - a Trumpet being blown - and the Rapture, or “Raising up of the Saints” to meet the Lord in the air) are ALSO found in Matthew 24:29-31, as well, and describe what is very obviously this SAME EVENT:
Matthew 24:29-31:
29) 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: 30) 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. 31) And He shall send His angels with a GREAT SOUND OF A TRUMPET, and they shall GATHER TOGETHER HIS ELECT FROM THE FOUR WINDS, FROM ONE END OF HEAVEN TO THE OTHER. (A big “meeting” of the Saints with the Lord IN THE AIR!)Notice also that in Matthew 24 that this “Rapture” or “Gathering Together” occurs IMMEDIATELY “AFTER” THE TRIBULATION PERIOD, and not “BEFORE” (verse 29). This is all very strong Scriptural evidence AGAINST a “Pre-Tribulational Rapture” of any sort. In fact, it makes this all quite plain, in BLACK & WHITE!
These verses CANNOT be taken any other way than to mean exactly what they are saying! Most of the verses in the Pre-Tribulational teaching, though, CAN be taken another way and interpreted to mean that, instead of being Raptured out prematurely, we are merely, “kept” by the Lord and protected RIGHT HERE ON THIS EARTH until He returns to take us out! This is what Jesus said in John 17:15:
“I pray NOT that Thou shouldest TAKE THEM OUT OF THE WORLD, but that thou shouldest KEEP THEM FROM THE EVIL.”This event of the “Gathering Together” of the Saints or “Rapture” is even spoken of in the Psalms!
Psalms 50:3-5:
3) Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: A fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him.. 4) He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that HE MAY JUDGE HIS PEOPLE. 5) “GATHER MY SAINTS TOGETHER UNTO ME; those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”Notice the “Coming of the Lord” (verse 3) and the “Judgment” of the Saints (verse 4) and the “Gathering Together” of the Saints to meet the Lord?” (verse 5) all are elements in other passages above that occur at this same time. Remember how 1 Thessalonians 4:16 says that the Lord will “descend from heaven with a shout?” Perhaps Psalms 50:4 & 5 tell us WHAT He will “shout” when He returns!? (See this same event also in Daniel 7:9-14.)
This same “Rapture” term, “Gathering Together,” is ALSO used in 2 Thessalonians 2:1; and like Revelation 20:4-6, this chapter states very plainly and clearly that the antiChrist must come FIRST before Jesus comes to “Gather us Together” unto Himself!!! This IS fact, and I hope you will see the whole reason that this chapter was even written in the first place — to make this one point!
2 Thessalonians chapter 2:1-3:
1) “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, and by OUR GATHERING TOGETHER UNTO HIM.” (From this introduction we can see that this chapter is going to deal with that particular “Coming of the Lord” in which we are “gathered together unto Him.”) (That would be “the Rapture!”)
2) “That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.” (Someone falsely wrote the Thessalonians and told them they had missed the Rapture, and signed Paul’s name to the letter) (So now Paul tells them not to believe any such false reports, because before Jesus returns to “gather” us unto Himself, the ANTICHRIST MUST COME FIRST and sit in the temple showing himself that he is God; causing a great falling away from the Christian Faith:)
3) Let no man deceive you by any means: FOR THAT DAY SHALL NOT COME EXCEPT THERE COME A FALLING AWAY FIRST, AND THAT MAN OF SIN BE REVEALED, THE SON OF PERDITION; 4) WHO OPPOSETH AND EXALTETH HIMSELF ABOVE ALL THAT IS CALLED GOD, OR THAT IS WORSHIPED; SO THAT HE AS GOD SITTETH IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD, SHOWING HIMSELF THAT HE IS GOD.“THAT DAY,” according to verse 1, is the day of Christ’s coming and our subsequent “gathering together unto Him,” or “Rapture!” And these verses make it very clear that “THAT DAY”… “SHALL NOT COME” until the antiChrist, or “son of perdition,” comes FIRST!!!
Notice also the clear warning here not to listen to men who might try to DECEIVE us into thinking that this can happen some other way!? Jesus said in Matthew 24:3-5 that in the End Time “MANY would come ‘IN HIS NAME,’ DECEIVING many;” SPECIFICALLY CONCERNING what would be “THE SIGN OF HIS COMING” and the “END OF THE WORLD!” Is this happening today? Are there “many” today teaching that Jesus will come FIRST and rapture us out, instead of the antiChrist coming FIRST, like this plainly says? Can this be taken any other way than to mean exactly what it is saying in plain black and white?
Many of today’s preachers and teachers are putting the Church to sleep with “comfortable teachings,” telling them that they will be Raptured out before all these coming troubles, instead of PREPARING God’s people to STAND STRONG through these coming perilous times. This is exactly what happened to the Churches in China right before Mao Tse Tung came through and began slaughtering them by the thousands! The Chinese Church leaders that survived begged Corrie Ten Boom to warn the American churches not to make this same mistake. Her warnings have gone largely unheeded! Corrie Ten Boom said:
“There are some among us teaching there will be no tribulation, that the Christians will be able to escape all this; these are the false teachers Jesus was warning us to expect in the latter days.”Corrie said to start memorizing your Bible, as the antiChrist will try to stamp out the Bibles and destroy the Word of God, and the only Bible some of us may have in the days ahead is what we have memorized and “hidden away” in our hearts.
Begin by memorizing key passages that the Holy Spirit makes “stand out” to you. Amos speaks of this coming event, and says that in the end time there will be a “famine” for “hearing the Word of the Lord;” and that people will travel all over the world searching for the Word of the Lord and shall not find it!? (Amos 8: 11 & 12) This is something we should all take quite seriously and begin doing in earnest. On with our chapter…
5) Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? (Paul had, obviously, already told these folks before that the antiChrist must come FIRST, yet they had forgotten or overlooked this upon receiving this demonic letter telling them they had missed the rapture. So Paul is chiding them: “Don’t you remember I told you the antiChrist must come FIRST?” “You haven’t seen this happen yet, have you?” “Have you seen him sitting in the temple showing himself that he is God?” “How could you have believed this false report?”)
6) And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in His time. (And now you know what has to HAPPEN FIRST, before the Lord is revealed in His time…the antiChrist MUST COME FIRST!!!)Out of this entire chapter, verse 7 here is the only verse that is used in the Pre-Tribulational teaching! They blindly ignore the first six verses in this chapter which directly prove they are wrong; instead, they teach that verse 7 means that the Holy Spirit is taken from the earth and, therefore, we must go with it in the Rapture! That is “one heck of a lot” to read into this verse! This just says: “Until He be taken out of the way!?” It doesn’t say to “where!” That could happen right here on this earth!? This verse mentions nothing specific about a “catching up” or a Rapture; and it could simply mean that the Holy Spirit “steps aside” and lets evil come forth to fulfill it’s end time role.
7) For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only He who now letteth will let, until He be taken out of the way.
To read all this into this one short verse, while blindly ignoring the first six verses before it — which state things totally contrary to this view (in plain black and white) and which cannot be taken any other way than to mean just exactly what they are saying — is, in my opinion, VERY, VERY DANGEROUS! Yet this very view sums up the belief system of the vast majority of God’s Church today!
Some of these doctrines being taught in the modern American Church are rather like buying a car. If you don’t look “too closely,” or pay very close attention to detail, you will buy the first thing that comes along and think you got a good deal till it quickly falls apart! And the car dealers will polish it all up and make even a JUNK HEAP look good, as long as you don’t look too closely! If you go over these verses and read them quickly, not paying much attention to detail, you will easily be deceived by some of the modern teaching on them!
If you examine the Pre-Tribulational position on this subject closely, you will see that in order to believe this teaching, you would have to go back to verse 3 and change it to read: “That day SHALL come first before the man of sin sits in the temple showing himself that he is God,” instead of how it presently reads: “That day SHALL NOT come…” You would have to directly alter it so that it reads “EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE” OF WHAT IT PRESENTLY SAYS!
You would think that folks would see that by doing this they set themselves up as DECEIVERS according to the first part of this verse! This verse should SCARE these people! It should make them REALLY EXAMINE what they are teaching closely and carefully!?
Folks, it is not a “light thing” to alter the Scriptures in this way! Yet that is exactly what many, even MOST, are doing!? It really appears that these folks are unknowingly fulfilling Jesus prophecy in Matthew 24:3-5 by “deceiving” people concerning the “sign of His Coming” and “the end of the world.” That is exactly what they are doing by telling them it’s going to come some other way than what He plainly said in black and white!? The “signs of His Coming” are clearly laid out by Him, yetd these people are teaching us that we WILL NOT EVEN BE HERE to witness these very same “signs” He said to look for (see all of Matthew 24).
Some teach that perhaps the “Coming of the Lord” (spoken of here is the “Day of the Lord,” as it is referred to in other areas of Scripture) is a 7 YEAR PERIOD instead of something that just happens in an instant on one certain day — and that perhaps He comes and raptures us out at the BEGINNING of this period, and then the antiChrist comes and rules for seven years, after we are raptured out, and then Jesus returns once again at the end of this 7 year period!? (The “key” word in this belief is “perhaps!?”; that makes it a THEORY, yet it is taught and accepted as FACT!)
But even if you take this view, according to verse 3, the antiChrist would STILL HAVE TO COME “FIRST” BEFORE THE “VERY FIRST DAY” OF THIS 7 YEAR PERIOD; or, once again, you would have to ALTER verse 3 to read “that day SHALL come… before the antiChrist sits in the temple showing himself that he is God,” rather than as it presently reads: “That day SHALL NOT COME...”
Does this seem like a “small thing” to be harping on to you? Not worth arguing about or even discussing? Well God turns the wheels of His great Omnipotence on just such “very small things!” Because of the loss of a “nail” in his hoof, a rider’s horse can lose a shoe, stumble, fall and kill the rider! This one small “oversight” by the Church may well cause this VERY THING to happen to it in the end!?
Why is it that people can never see the blindness and sin in their OWN GENERATION? Why can we look back to the past, and see the sins of others in the Bible down through time, but do not even suspect that, today, we are doing the same thing the Pharisees of old did? Why can we not see the “blindness” and “callousness” in our own hearts?
Many folks have gotten fed up over “arguing” over this subject, and they say that “they refuse to even discuss it anymore!” I have seen brethren almost come to blows and scream and yell at each other over this topic! The devil gets really angry when it is brought up because it is exposing one of his GREATEST DECEITS THAT HE IS FOISTING UPON GOD’S UNSUSPECTING CHURCH IN THE END TIME!
It is certainly wrong to get ANGRY over anything and get mad at each other, but it is not wrong to discuss such a serious and important matter as this! Satan just loves that feint! That “cop out!” He knows that then everyone will be afraid to bring up the subject for fear of starting a “hullabullo,” and so they just will not talk about it. And then folks go on teaching their perverted and distorted view to the flock of God’s Church! He is so clever! First of all, it is NOT a light thing, and it will have very dramatic negative effects on God’s Church when things do not transpire as folks have been taught they will!
Most folks teaching this “pre-trib” view are doing it in ignorance, just “parroting” what they have been taught since they got saved, without having ever taken the time to study it all out carefully and prayerfully. The Lord is very merciful and understanding and patient. He is trying to get folks to “see the light” on this, but it is very difficult. “As the branch bends, so grows the tree!” And once a person is grounded deeply in this false belief system, it seems to be very hard to convince them otherwise, or to even get them to LOOK AT THE FACTS surrounding all this and read Scriptures like the ones in this study.
Most will “stubbornly” cling to this false view, until it becomes apparent that it is wrong, and then they will say: “Oh WHY, didn’t we see this plain and simple truth laid out in the Scriptures?” “WHY couldn’t we see what Jesus warned SO CLEARLY of concerning all this?” Suddenly the “blinders” will be “ripped off” and they will clearly see, but it will be too late to alter the effects of what it will cause on “the Body!” Those who are “strong” in the Lord will survive but, sadly, it will not go so well for those who “follow afar off, for those who will begin to question their FAITH and the LORD, and for those who become very confused!” Many may just “give up.”
This is something that should be brought out into the open and discussed above almost all else, after Salvation and other basics of the Faith! People say that it is just “causing division.” The TRUTH always causes division among those who resent hearing it! Jesus’ Words caused division. Paul’s words caused division, and Paul ARGUED with the Pharisees and “contended” and “disputed” with them for three years in the Book of Acts before getting fed up with them and telling them he’d had it with them and was now going to the Gentiles! So it is not wrong to “contend” for the Truth!
When Satan has successfully deceived a group of people and you come along preaching the truth, THERE ARE GOING TO BE FIRE WORKS! THE DEVIL HATES BEING EXPOSED AND HIS WORK RUINED! People get MAD! WE should not argue in anger, but discuss important topics like this with love and patience and prayer. This should not be swept under the rug! Let’s go on…
8) And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and SHALL DESTROY WITH THE BRIGHTNESS OF HIS COMING:As you can see by verse 8, the antiChrist is DESTROYED by the “brightness” of this same “Coming of the Lord” in which He “gathers us together” unto Himself, according to verse 1. So if this is the case, then how can the antiChrist rule or reign for another 3 ½ or 7 years, as is taught by so many, today, in the Christian world?
9) Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
Perhaps it’s time to prayerfully rethink all of these teachings and put aside devotion to a particular Church’s beliefs out of blind obedience alone, and start studying the Scriptures deeply and praying for God’s guidance, and preaching the truth! “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!?”
If the Church doesn’t get straightened out on this, this one false teaching could wreak more havoc on God’s Church, more than any of the calamities that have befallen it before down through time! It may even help facilitate the “great falling away” from the Christian Faith spoken of here.
Many Christians will even support the antiChrist when he comes, thinking that he couldn’t possibly be the antiChrist or they would have been raptured out already!? He’s not coming with “horns and hoofs” and a “pitchfork!” He will appear as “AN ANGEL OF LIGHT!” He will appear to be a very righteous and Godly man, a great man of peace, who will be championing the cause of Israel in the world courts, demanding that they be given the right to rebuild their temple (which he plans to sit in and rule from), and that they should be given the right to re-start their animal sacrifices once again.
Folks will think he’s the greatest man of peace and friend of Israel to ever come along! He’s going to fool nearly EVERYONE! BUT DON’T YOU BE DECEIVED!
Read these Scriptures again and pray over them, asking the Lord if these things are really the truth!
Satan is setting the entire church system up for the greatest “sucker punch” he’s ever given them — he will knock out their faith out by total surprise and shock when things do not turn out the way folks have been taught!
Satan has lulled almost the entire church to sleep. Wake up and see what’s coming! He just LOVES this method of catching folks off guard by total surprise and causing the greatest amount of fear possible in an instant! It causes such great confusion, and he is the “author of confusion.” He wants to totally KNOCK OUT THE CHURCH IN ONE PUNCH!!!
Like a great commanding general who studies out his war strategies long in advance, Satan sat back and looked over this “end time” scenario centuries ago. He knew he would have to put the Church to sleep to be able to catch them by surprise in this fashion. He began to enter the Church with false “sleepy” doctrines.
Some have traced this “pre-tribulational” teaching back to around 1830 when a young Scottish girl named Margaret MacDonald received a prophecy which began to lead others this way in their thinking. Immediately influenced were John Darby of the Plymouth Brethren and Edward Irving of the Church of the Irvingites. Then C.I. Scofield, author of the Scofield Bible, picked it up and brought it to America where it swept the religious world like wildfire; even Moody Bible Institute and Dallas Theological Seminary! Undoubtedly, this is a fulfilling of the prophecy that “the time will come when they will not endure SOUND DOCTRINE, but will heap to themselves teachers having “itching ears,” and their ears shall be turned from the truth to hearing “fables!?” (2 Timothy 4: 3 & 4)
Author and researcher Dave Macpherson went back and studied the sermons of these two men, Irving and Darby, and found that up until the time of Margaret’s prophecy, they both preached what the Church had believed for the first 1800 years — what we now call “Post-Tribulation” / “Pre-Wrath” rapture. Then suddenly they both began to preach this new “altered” view and to vie with each other over who was the first to come out with it. Now it has become such a part of standard Church dogma, that if you speak against it, people think you are a false prophet coming along speaking against the Lord and the Bible!
What people grow up hearing for many years, over and over, is what they usually believe very strongly in; and it forms a “stronghold” in their mind, which, in this case, is a strong hold of Satan, even though they don’t know it! When you come along preaching the truth on this, many folks think you are teaching some “new doctrine” which is against the “old teaching” that has been around since the beginning!? Most are totally unaware that the “post-trib” / “pre-wrath” view is what the Church believed FIRST for nearly 1800 years!!! This “pre-trib” teaching is the “JOHNNY-COME-LATELY,” a mere 170 - 200 years old!
Other researchers have traced this “pre-trib” teaching to a Jesuit priest named Father Immanuel Lacunza, who wrote similar things in 1790. Who ever came out with it, it is part of Satan’s long term strategy to get the Church right where he wants us so he can wreak the most havoc and cause the greatest amount of confusion and damage possible when his man, the “beast” or “antiChrist,” comes to power!?
From what I’ve read of Church history, no one believed or taught any doctrine like this from the time of the Church Fathers, clear up to the time of the Reform-Era Fathers, like Luther! THEY ALL believed that we would go through the tribulation, just like Jesus said, and be “gathered together” unto Him at the end — although there are a “host” of Churchy, “pre-trib” teachers and “apologists” right now who are trying very hard to trace it clear back to the early Church!? I think they are “making it all up as the go along” because, from all I’ve studied, I’ve seen it NOWHERE! They are trying to fit a modern belief into a past where it never existed!
The “Reform Era Fathers,” like Luther, believed in “post-trib” rapture; they just had the “lengths of time” for end time events off. Because, before in the Book of Ezekiel, God had told the Prophet to lie on his side for “so many days” and that the nation of Israel would suffer for an equal time in “years” — these reform-era fathers all thought that the 3 ½ years of tribulation that were coming were also according to this same “day / year” principle.
Three and one-half years, or 1,260 days, were to be considered 1,260 YEARS that the church would be in “tribulation” under the wicked Pope’s of Rome!?— this is what they all thought — and that the Pope’s were the antiChrist!? But none of them believed that we would be raptured out before the tribulation. One would think that since the first 69 weeks of Daniel’s “70 weeks” prophecy of the end (Daniel 9: 24-27) were NOT according to the “day / year” principle — that, therefore, the “LAST” and “FINAL” week would NOT BE EITHER but would be actual days and years in real time, just as the first 69!? But sadly this was not the case — another of Satan’s tricks! They thought He meant a day for a year during this era in Church history.
One by one, all their theories on the year Jesus would return turned out to be wrong; the final one being the most dramatic, in the fall of 1844; where William Miller’s followers (the Adventists) all got up on their housetops dressed in white sheets awaiting the Lord’s return on a specific day Miller thought he got by calculating this time period from one Pope, whom Miller considered to be the most wicked!? Well it obviously came and went and the movement fell into disorder, and out of it came the 7th Day Adventists and the Church of God 7th Day.
THEN the “pre-tribulational” view came on the scene in the mainstream Church world, and over the course of the next 100 or so years, swept the religious world like wild fire! Like I said, NOW everybody thinks it is the “old standard” believed by everyone since the very beginning, and they don’t realize that it is a relative “newcomer” in the Bible Eschatology or “End Time Bible Prophecy” field!
That was a tragic day for much of the church in 1844, when Miller was proved wrong, but not nearly as tragic as what’s coming when the lie of “pre-tribulational” rapture comes to “full fruit” and has it’s full effect on the Lord’s Church!!? As I said before, many may support the antiChrist, thinking he’s a good man, and not suspecting him at all because they have been taught they will be “raptured out” first before he comes!? Then many will have their faith destroyed when he takes off the “halo” and puts on the “horns!” The entire Church will be in disarray, and many who have been taught that the “good” Christians will be raptured out, and the “bad” ones “LEFT BEHIND,” may give up in total discouragement. There may be many suicides and many in great depression, disillusionment and discouragement! To think that you’ve “failed the Lord” and that “He’s LEFT YOU BEHIND TO SUFFER!?” So many people are going to be hurt by this unScriptural teaching!
The Church will “rock and reel” under the fiery darts of the one who will “speak great words against the Most High,” and “wear out the Saints of the Most High” — who will “make war with the Saints and PREVAIL against them!?” And when the “guillotines begin to fall,” and people begin to lose their heads for refusing to deny their Faith in Jesus Christ, many may begin to “jump off the boat” like “scared men fleeing a sinking ship!”
Instead of a “pre-tribulation rapture,” many are going to be “yanked” out of their beds in the middle of the night, by complete surprise — by “jackbooted” storm troopers brandishing sub-machine guns and dressed in black S.W.A.T. gear — and hauled off to PRISON CAMPS, which have already been set up all over America, under a program called REX 84!, first designed by Lt. Colonel Oliver North, in the days of President Ronald Reagan. This was even exposed in Congress by Congressman Jack Brooks, who publicly challenged Oliver North about it and was told to “shut up” as it was a matter of national security!
Although originally designed to “house” American gun-owners and patriots who refuse to go along with a “new world order” takeover — complete with a massive “gun confiscation program, as well as other “dissidents”— the REX 84 program in the hands of a future administration may be used to lock up even other “Christian dissidents” who, although “peaceful” and non-violent, do not “believe” the way they are supposed to (i.e.: folks who dare to expose America and Israel’s sins!).
If you wish to know more about this “REX 84 program,” contact Evangelist David J. Smith of the Church of God Evangelistic: P.O.Box 36, Waxahachie, Texas 75168. Or call 972-937-2227. He has “proof” of this event! Smith is a good man to listen to if you want to keep up on all that is going on behind the scenes, that we are not being told about in the standard media, and especially how it relates to Bible prophecy; although I don’t personally hold to his doctrinal Church teachings. He does teach “post-trib” rapture correctly though! If you live in Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, or Louisiana, you can listen to Smith nightly, Mon - Fri, from 10:30 till Midnight on 870 AM radio. It comes in great on most car radios! Tune in and find out things your church probably isn’t telling you! As I said, I do not adhere to all his beliefs in the Church of God 7th Day, but at least he’s telling it like it is on coming events — 99 % of the other pastors across this land are putting people to sleep so that this all comes upon them UNAWARES!!!
In Matthew 24:9 & 10, Jesus spoke of this terrible “end time persecution” that would occur in every nation of the world against His followers, near the time of His return:
“9)Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall KILL you: and ye shall be hated of ALL NATIONS for My Names sake.” 10) “And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.”Notice that this great “end time” persecution the Lord speaks of here comes BEFORE the RAPTURE of verses 29-31. GREAT PERSECUTION COMES FIRST!!!
Daniel the Prophet also spoke of this same event over and over: of a GREAT PERSECUTION of God’s Saints in the END TIME TRIBULATION PERIOD under the TERRIFYING REIGN OF THE ANTICHRIST:
Daniel 7: 21,22,25-27:
“21) I beheld, and the same horn MADE WAR WITH THE SAINTS, and PREVAILED AGAINST THEM: 22) until the Ancient of Days came, and judgement was given to the Saints of the Most High, and the time came that the Saints possessed the Kingdom.” 25) And he shall SPEAK GREAT WORDS AGAINST THE MOST HIGH, AND SHALL WEAR OUT THE SAINTS OF THE MOST HIGH, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a TIME and TIMES and the DIVIDING OF TIME. (3 1/2 years) 26) But the JUDGMENT shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. 27) And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the Saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.”
Daniel 8:23-25;
23) “And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, and king of fierce countenance and understanding dark sentences shall stand up. 24) and his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, AND SHALL DESTROY THE MIGHTY AND THE HOLY PEOPLE. (Wake up America! YOU ARE the “MIGHTY AND THE HOLY PEOPLE!” The American Churches are going to feel the main brunt of this persecution, along with the tiny nation of Israel! It’s not just the Jews, folks, who are going to suffer during this time as many also falsely teach today!)Jesus said in Matthew 24:15, to pay special attention to the “abomination of desolation” being placed in the temple and to FLEE at this time to places of refuge! Matthew 24:15 - 21:
“15) When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16) then let them which be in Judea FLEE into the mountains: 17) Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house, 18) Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19) And woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20) But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21) FOR THEN SHALL BE GREAT TRIBULATION SUCH AS WAS NOT SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD TO THIS TIME, NO, NOR EVER SHALL BE.”Again, there is no mention of a “rapture” before this time anywhere in Matthew 24. It comes LATER in verses 29-31. If you follow pre-tribulaional teaching, it truly must be a “secret rapture!?” It’s SO SECRET that it’s NOT EVEN MENTIONED IN THE SCRIPTURES!!! Ha! People should be “truly leary” of such a teaching! There should certainly be a lot more HARD EVIDENCE for it, if it were true! But there is not! All the HARD EVIDENCE falls on the side of “post-tribulational,” “pre-wrath rapture!”
Apparently, this placing of the “abomination of desolation” heralds the BEGINNING of the GREAT TRIBULATION PERIOD!? Let’s go to Daniel and read what happens at this time, as the Lord suggested above:
Daniel 11: 31-36:
“31) And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, AND THEY SHALL PLACE THE ABOMINATION THAT MAKETH DESOLATE. 32) And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: BUT THE PEOPLE THAT DO KNOW THEIR GOD SHALL BE STRONG, AND DO EXPLOITS. 33) And they that understand among the people shall INSTRUCT MANY: YET THEY FALL BY THE SWORD, AND BY FLAME, BY CAPTIVITY, AND BY SPOIL MANY DAYS. 34) Now when they shall fall, they shall be helped with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. 35) AND SOME OF THEM OF UNDERSTANDING SHALL FALL, TO TRY THEM, AND TO PURGE, AND TO MAKE THEM WHITE, EVEN TO THE TIME OF THE END: because it is yet for a time appointed. 36) And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above EVERY GOD, AND SHALL SPEAK MARVELOUS THINGS AGAINST THE GOD OF GODS, and shall PROSPER till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.The “indignation” spoken of here is “God’s indignation” against the nation of Israel for “trying to take their kingdom back in the flesh” without going through the proper “doorway” of JESUS CHRIST, His Son (as per John 10); and winning the world through His love, instead of considering themselves better than everyone else (God is no respecter of persons); and mowing them down with machine guns, bombs and bullets to take back what they consider “rightfully theirs” — but is NOT since the Lord drove them out 2,000 years ago. And also because they are willing to accept “one who comes in his own name” to get this great advantage and blessing, instead of having accepted Him who came “in the name of His Father,” Jesus Christ! This “indignation of God” is also against the duped American church system for “aiding and abbetting” them in this great end time “fiasco!”
Both the American church system and the modern nation of so-called “Israel” are going to be PURGED AND PURIFIED AND MADE WHITE HERE to get them straightened out on this issue! When they finally realize all this — under the antiChrist’s relentless attacks and his actual “winning” against them and subduing and destroying them — AND THEY REPENT (as per Zechariah 13), then the “Lord will come and fight against those nations that have come against them, and He will return in all His glory to fight for His people and deliver them from their STRONG OPPRESSOR!” (as per Zechariah 14).
This is another “great lie” that has entered the “corrupt and compromised American church system” that the Lord is going to expose before all, before the great day of His Coming! Jesus said in John chapters 8 & 10, to the Pharisees, that they were not going to be saved and blessed by God merely because they were “flesh sons of Abraham,” and that they had to go through “HIM, the ‘DOOR’, to get into the kingdom!?” Now, 2,000 years later, the same bunch with the same mindset have returned to foist this same belief on the followers of Christ; and most have warmly received it with open arms, no questions asked, and would support them to the death, fighting to get their land back for them — thinking that they are “doing God service!” But don’t worry! God is going to “straighten everyone out on this” before the Lord returns! It will be made very plain!
As both America and Israel “rock and reel” under the antiChrist’s future attacks and coming terrorist attacks — and natural disasters like famines, earthquakes, weather related disasters, disease, and ill health — many will TURN HARD to the Lord and begin questioning, “Why is all this coming upon us?” And the Lord will begin to show them the reasons for these things. But many of the new, coming, end time Prophets, who will show people this and will expose these things, will be killed in great anger (just like Jesus, His followers, and all the Prophets of old) by these same people or, possibly, even by infuriated “fundamentalist-evangelicals” with their .30-30’s in the back of their pick-up windows, “thinking that they are doing God service!?” (John 16:1 & 2).
The majority of American Churches have become SPIRITUALLY BLIND and DECEIVED on almost EVERYTHING THAT THEY BELIEVE!!! The only thing most have right is the foundation of receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior! From there on it goes downhill quite rapidly, and even most of them are confused on that, and get folks SAVED going in one door, and then UNSAVED going out the other! Folks leave totally confused about their salvation and deluded on most every other teaching!
From “RICHES AND PROSPERITY” to “PRE-TRIBULATIONAL RAPTURE,” and “FALSE HOLINESS” or more properly, “SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS” (the sin of the Pharisees), they compass “land and sea” to make “one convert;” and when they have found him, they make him two-fold more the “child of hell,” as Jesus said, than they are themselves!?
Most Churches are turning their people into “MODERN PHARISEES” instead of loving followers of Christ, like the early disciples were. Concerning the totally serious and sometimes “horrifying” end time events that are coming, they build on false foundation these modern “comfortable” teachings that put them TOTALLY TO SLEEP and make them into “self-righteous judges” of today’s “wicked sinners,” and “publicans and harlots,” who condemn folks to hell with their tongues, instead of loving them into the kingdom. God bless you if your Church is NOT doing this and is trying to do it right the way Jesus intended. This message is not to all here, but to the “blind majority!” There are a few that are really trying to do it right and follow the Lord!
Most Churches are being taught that they are the “Church of Philadelphia” spoken of in the Book of Revelation; and that they are going to be “kept from that hour” (the great tribulation) by being “raptured out beforehand!” But if you will read on in your Bible to the very next church in that chapter, you will find a little more accurate description of today's modern Church system as a whole; the “Church of Laodicea!”
Revelation 3:14-20:
“14) And unto the Angel of the Church of the Laodiceians 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 then because thou art lukewarm, I will spew thee out of my mouth. 17) Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing: (The modern “riches and prosperity doctrine of many?”) and knowest not that thou are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and BLIND, and naked:
(SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS!!! When you try to show folks about pre-trib rapture, or riches and prosperity, or any of these other false teachings, they just cannot seem to “see” it, no matter how hard or long you try to patiently explain it and show Scriptures!? They read over and over them and just cannot seem to see what they are saying, they have been so programmed! It’s quite discouraging, but that is exactly what this verse is addressing here!)
18) I counsel thee to BUY OF ME GOLD TRIED IN THE FIRE, THAT THOU MAYEST BE RICH; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; (In one place in the Gospels, Jesus said that you get “RICHES IN HEAVEN” when you give of the money and blessings you have on this earth! You get RICHES THERE, by GIVING HERE! Of your time, your love, your material blessings, and your ALL!)
(Instead of the Gospel being perverted to mean that it’s “okay” to seek to be rich and have lots of money, prestige, and power — as the modern, mainly “Dallas based” televangelists teach — we are NOT to seek these things, but to give our lives as a “living sacrifice” and to give our all for Jesus in every way we can. We are to seek to GIVE OF OURSELVES, NOT TO GET!!! …and to anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see... Once again, to pray hard against the SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS of the teachings of the vast majority of today’s modern Churches and their inability to see messages such as this one, which is preaching the “unpopular truth!”)Getting back to the subject of the rapture, one thing that might be causing confusion over this issue is this: the “pre-trib” view confuses two separate time periods in the Book of Revelation, the TRIBULATION and the WRATH, as being one and the same! They are not the same event.
19) As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
1 Thessalonians 5:9 says that, “we are not appointed to God’s wrath, but to obtain salvation;” therefore, “pre-tribbers” assume that we are not HERE on this earth for almost the ENTIRE BOOK OF REVELATION!? Folks! That is a lot of paper for God to “waste!?” There are a lot of very intricately detailed prophecies in there to just be discarded if the main body of the Church isn’t even going to be around for them!?
In the Book of Revelation, the TRIBULATION PERIOD is heralded by the BLOWING OF 7 TRUMPETS and, as shown before here, we are raptured out at the LAST ONE (Revelation chapters 8-11). This is then FOLLOWED by the WRATH PERIOD, which is heralded by the POURING OUT OF 7 VIALS, AFTER we are gone! (Revelation chapter 16). Therefore, we are NOT HERE for that event, but in heaven with the Lord at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, so we “are not appointed unto wrath.” Most churches are taught that “the wrath” covers the ENTIRE BOOK OF REVELATION!? As you can see if you will look up Revelation and read this, this simply is NOT TRUE!
The TRIBULATION is the time period in which the antiChrist tries to stamp out all other religions, and mainly Christianity, and to foist upon the world the worship of himself as God. The WRATH is the time period which DIRECTLY FOLLOWS THE TRIBULATION, in which the Lord returns to rescue His people from the antiChrist’s wicked and cruel clutches in the rapture, and then pours out His WRATH on him and his followers AFTER we are gone!
During the tribulation, one-third of everything is destroyed by the Lord’s “selective judgments,” while we are protected miraculously by the Lord right here on the earth (1/3rd of the sky is darkened, 1/3rd of the oceans turn blood red, etc.). This is a bit like how the U.S. uses “smart bombs” so as not to hit the innocent civilians in warfare. (I’m sure the Lord’s a lot more accurate though!) An example of the Lord doing this in the Old Testament is found during the plagues in Egypt of old: the judgments of the Lord fell only on the Egyptians and not on the Hebrews who lived right next door to them. During the wrath period, EVERYTHING is judged by the Lord. (i.e.: the WHOLE sky darkened, ALL the oceans turn blood red, etc…) (Read Revelation chapters 8-11 and 16 to see this.)
It is my earnest prayer that Christians will begin to wake up and see all these things that are coming and to prepare accordingly. This study is not written to make people mad or to cause division. Please don’t take anything that is said here in that way. PLEASE pray hard about this message, and ask the Lord if it’s the truth. Ask Him to remove any “spiritual blindness” from former teachings that might be hindering (and not allowing you to see these things, if you are having trouble understanding them)! PLEASE don’t let these things come upon you unawares!
Please begin an active Bible Memory Program and begin to prayerfully study the Bible as never before. Pray and learn to hear the “voice of the Lord” in your heart (Jeremiah 29:13, 33:3, John 16:13,14). These are three things that we will all need to be accomplished in to go through what lies ahead victoriously! We are indeed going to enter shortly into “times that will try men’s souls!” Let’s prepare now by getting as close to Jesus as we can, and by preparing in every way we can as we are led by His Spirit.
Thank you for your time.
Related:
- The Green Movement Is the One World Religion
- Satan's Conspiracy Against God
- The End of the World and the Final Seven Years
- The Chronological Order of the Book of Revelation
- The Return of Christ in the Clouds of Heaven
- The Signs of the Times
- By the Grace of God, Through the Faith of Christ, We Have Been Saved
