ARTICLE 13 We believe in the pre-millennial second coming of Jesus. First, to resurrect the righteous dead and to catch away the living saints to Him in the air. Second to reign on the earth a thousand years.
Intro: The pre-millennial view holds that Christ will return to earth (this return is also known as the Second Coming), literally and bodily, before the millennial age begins and that, by
His presence, a kingdom will be instituted over which He will reign.
The Second Coming is the conclusion of God’s kingly reign in the world. Jesus birth was the beginning of the kingdom of God, God through his son Jesus intervened in the world, Jesus while among them proclaimed the rule of God was beginning in a new way. “Although God has begun His reign it will not be fulfilled until Christ return. When this happens Christ will give God the kingdom (1 Corinthians 15:24). This will consummate the kingly rule and God will be supreme everywhere and in everyway. The Trinity will rule and reign in perfect harmony and goodness (1 Corinthians 15:25-28).”
The first step of the pre-millennial reign of Christ is the rapture of the church (or the catching away of the saints) The Second Coming of Christ will occur in stages. First, He will remove all Christians from the Earth, to protect them. This is called "The Rapture." “The term comes from the Greek word harpizo, meaning to be caught up" or "to be snatched up." Jesus will "snatch us" out of harm’s way.
I Cor: 15: 51-55 “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
This verse of scripture relates to the resurrection of the dead in Christ.
1. The dead in Christ are the believer’s who have died before the rapture has taken place.
During this process called the rapture or catching away..their bodies will be transformed and made new and reunited with their spirits to forever live with the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:17 “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.”
During the rapture those which are alive upon the earth will be changed instantly in the moment of a twinkling of an eye. These believers will also go through a transformation process their mortal bodies will be changed to immortality and their corruption will be changed to incorruption.
The time and gathering of the redeemed is debated by many.
The four most prominent views of the rapture of the church are (1) Pre-Tribulation this is where the church will be taken out before the Tribulation begins and the church will be spared any kind of persecution or tribulation. (2) Mid- Tribulation this teaching believes that the church will enter the seven years of tribulation, but will be taken to be with Christ 3 1/2 years into the tribulation at the mid-point. Typically, this removes the church from the "Great Tribulation" which they believe to be contained in the second half, but does put the church through some of the more tolerable conditions during the first half. Like Pre- Tribulation, this is a futurist / pre-millennial belief system. (3) Pre-Wrath Tribulation is the view that the church will experience the persecution of the Antichrist but will be raptured out before the vials of wrath are poured out upon the earth. (4) This view Post-Tribulation view teaches that Jesus will return visibly and bodily to raise the dead Christians and gather together the living Christians at the end of a period of intense tribulation, called by Jesus the "great tribulation" (Matt. 24:21).
The post-trib view is the only rapture view which sees only a single future coming of Jesus. All other rapture views, pre-trib, mid-trib, and pre-wrath see the rapture and resurrection prior to the second coming of Jesus. “
While these rapture views see the rapture as a means to take the Church to heaven to escape God’s wrath, the post-trib view sees the rapture as a mechanism to gather together believers from both heaven and earth in a single location with Christ, to be revealed with Him in glory to the world at His coming.” Therefore, in a post-trib belief, the rapture is a essential part of the second coming. Upon Jesus descent from heaven, the angels will be sent out by the trumpet blast and gather together Jesus elect to meet Him in the air.
However, some say it really doesn’t matter if Jesus is coming before, in the middle or after the tribulation, as long as we are ready. This mind set scares me. There is a huge difference between being ready to be gently whisked away to heaven, and being ready to be persecuted for your faith and maybe even become a martyr at the hands of Antichrist!
Is this complacency worth the risk of huge numbers of believers being caught totally unprepared spiritually, emotionally, and physically?
However, if Jesus is coming soon as the signs seem to indicate, one’s views on the timing of the rapture are crucial to being prepared to be an over comer in the difficult days before His coming. If it really doesn’t matter what we believe about the last days, why did God devote such a large portion of His Word to end-time prophecy?
Is it just filler material?
The answer is really quite simple. Prophecy was intended to provide the kind of motivation needed to turn complacent pew-potatoes into Christian soldiers
God is not coming for a luke warm church.
God’s word was given to the church and the believer for alerting them of the coming trials we will soon face in time to prepare themselves and their families spiritually and emotionally, and perhaps even physically at the proper time.
I would rather prepare my family for the worst as be complaced and awake and find myself and my family unprepared and somewhere we never expected not to be.
Finally, regardless of the time of the rapture I do believe that the church will be caught away and that the dead in Christ will rise first and those which are alive and born again shall be caught up in the air forever to be with the Lord.
The Millennial reign or thousand year reign will follow the Tribulation period which
is a time of testing and persecution of those left behind after the rapture of the church.
Christ and the redeemed will return for a great battle against the rebellious powers of
darkness that are living here on earth this battle will be called the Battle of Armageddon
Revelation 19:19-21. Christ and the heavenly armies will defeat the Antichrist and the
false prophet and cast them into the lake of fire and brimstone. Then the angel of the Lord
will bind Satan for a thousand years and cast him into the bottomless pit. Revelation
20:2-3 which during this time he will be unable to influence the world. The time that
follows this period is known as the Millennial reign of Christ. It is during this reign
that Israel will see the fulfillment of its covenants that were unconditionally promised in the Old Testament. The millennial age will be a time of peace (Mic. 4:2-4), joy (Isa. 61:7, 10), and no poverty or sickness (Amos 9:13-15; Isa. 35:5-6).
During the Millennial reign Christ will rule with the redeemed from the holy city Jerusalem. Christ will rule over all the earth Revelation 2:26,27; 5:10; 20:4. Therefore, during this time it shall be a time of peace and perfect social order. Satan will have no control or influence over anyone or anything.
The Pre-Tribulation Rapture Is The Best Scriptural Conclusion
Notice to Sermon Central Users:
My name is Glen Key, and I pastor at Lone Oak Church of God. I have been a long-time user of Sermon Central and truly appreciate its content and contributors. Some of the best sermons I’ve ever preached have been reworked material from this website. As you use the material from my sermon bank, understand that it is work that has been done from not just myself, but from hundreds of other pastors as well. If you see part of your message, or a bunch of your message with my name on it and this upsets you, please email me and I will quickly respond and cite you as the main source. My intent is not to claim someone’s work as my own. I am disclaiming up front that I use the resources from Sermon Central and appreciate the tool. I simply want all those who use my work to know that these messages were inspired by the Holy Spirit as I viewed and gleaned from other sermons from other pastors. Because I do use the messages of other pastors I waive all claims of originality or origin of creativity for the messages posted under my messages. I pray God blesses your preaching ministry for the glory of His Kingdom.
Respectfully,
Pastor Glen Key
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Has God indeed said...For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ…" and, "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming." (1 Thess. 5:9; Matt. 25:13)
