Where'd Everybody Go Series

But understand this, the rapture is not a matter of reward it is a matter of salvation. You can¡¯t do enough good things to make the short list there is only one thing you can do, and that is accept the free gift of salvation that Christ offers.

4 When are We Leaving? The short answer is we don¡¯t know. However there are some indications in the scriptures that we¡¯d be wise not to ignore. Now understand that there are at least three different view points. There are those who claim the rapture will have before the Tribulation happens, we¡¯ll look at the tribulation next week. That is called a pre-tribulation view. There are those who believe that it will happen midway through the tribulation and that theory is called Mid-tribulation and then there are those who believe that the church will have to go through the tribulation and that of course is called Post-tribulation. And each side has their own biblical reasons and it really doesn¡¯t make a whole lot of difference. Personally I side with the pre-tribulation theory. Here are a couple of reasons why. And before I start with this, if you disagree with me here, the appropriate time to discuss it is not following the service, give me a call and we¡¯ll hash it out over a coffee sometime.

In the book of Revelation, when Jesus spoke to the church in Phillipi he said this Revelation 3:10 ¡°Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world.¡± If we believe that the word of God was valid for those it was written to 2000 years ago and equally valid for those who read it today, then this is still a promise. That Jesus will protect us from the time of great testing that will come upon the whole world. It was Ronald Ward who said ¡°At the climax of history the Lord will not be without his church, and his church will not be without him.¡±

I read an interesting theory this week in a book written by Dr. M.R. Dehaan 40 years ago. It was in relation to the second chapter of 2 Thessalonians where Paul is writing to the church because some people were saying that the end times where beginning. If you have your bibles turn with me to 2 Thessalonians 2. That¡¯s toward the end of the New Testament; there are a whole bunch of T books together, 1 & 2 Timothy, 1 & 2 Thessalonians and Titus. Paul tells the believers in that church that the Day of the Lord won¡¯t come until the man of lawlessness is revealed. That is the anti-Christ. Listen to 2 Thessalonians 2:7 For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. So who is the one holding the Anti-Christ back? Some have said that it was the Roman Emperor, but that¡¯s come and gone, others have said that it was Government in general. Dehaan says that Paul is referring to the Holy Spirit, and when the Church is raptured that the Holy Spirit¡¯s work here on earth will be done and he will step out of the way allowing the anti-Christ full sway.