Surely, two Christians shall be in the same bed—one shall be taken and the other left. That is to say, the left-behind Christian will enter the Great Tribulation period (the latter half of the seven years) and await our Lord’s Closed Door Return (Luke 12:36; James 5:9; Rev. 3:20, 7:13-14), while the wise will have entered Heaven at the Summer Harvest (Matt. 24:32-33). By the way, a Summer Harvest, which is a partial harvest, is always earlier than a fall harvest. Personally, you may have a sound walk with the Lord; you may be more than ready upon initial His appearing. However, far too many Christians haven’t put on an active agape type faith, nor will they in time for the Tribulation. Moreover, biblical watching is an incompatible doctrine to many who rigorously espouse the traditional trib positions of a pre-trib Rapture and/or Second Coming Only Theology. To a degree, then, the effectual purpose of John’s seven letters to today’s Church has become jeopardized. And even though we may be personally ready, those who could be ready are not, because of our widespread indifference to these truths. Sadly, it is largely accepted in the Body of Christ that Christians don’t need to prepare for the Lord’s return, nor look for the Day of Jesus Christ (Heb. 10:25; 2 Pet. 3:12); that all are saved and under God’s Grace, and totally in good standing. That Christ’s coming is imminent in the all at-once pre-trib Rapture. And when it comes to prophecy, it is a common assumption that God has given large portions of the Church an ear to hear. Well, such ideas are not conducive to the truths of the New Testament. Surely as longtime Christians, our faith must be active, each exercising his or her portion. Thus we must abide in Christ and be in a state of growth, bearing fruit, or having borne fruit, lest we are literally left behind upon Christ’s initial appearing (the exception being new born babes in Christ). “But know this,” if the entire Church were to be caught up at once Rapture, and this at a presupposed hour (pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib, pre-wrath), then there wouldn’t be a need to watch, nor a need to look for and expect That Day. All in the Church would be saved simultaneously anyway. But this is hardly the case. Many New Testament directives to watch exist, not to mention that we are to look for That Day in readiness. “Lest coming suddenly he finds you sleeping” (Mark 13:36)? If the Church were to be redeemed all at-once, this author again asks, why the need to watch? Why the need to keep awake? The answer lies in the fact that the all at-once Redemption Teaching, no matter the timing, is misleading to say the least. There will be, contrary to the popularity of theses doctrines, saved Christians who sleep. And those who willingly overlook this credible biblical point disregard the words of Jesus, not to mention vast portions of the Scripture. Indeed, there will be consequences to those Christians who allow the world to overwhelm them: "Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting (overindulgence), and drunkenness, and the cares of this life, so that day come upon you unawares. . . .Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things. . . .and to stand before the Son of Man" (Luke 21:34-36). Today, some clergymen take it for granted that “the day” mentioned by Paul is the traditional Second Coming. What conflicts with this view, however, is the fact that never is the Second Coming in Scripture referred to as “That Day,” or the “Lord’s Day.” Actually, the Man of Sin revealing and the Great Apostasy will both occur much earlier than the Second Coming: “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day SHALL NOT COME, except there comes a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition” (2 Thess. 2:3). All told, within the biblical directive of “let no man deceive you by any means,” Paul went on to detail that two things must precede the Day of Christ before our Lord’s return can become imminent and the Day begin. First, “a falling away,” or an extreme notable apostasy in the Church must occur first. Secondly, “. . . That the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.” Paralleling the above, the following also gives us the precise understanding that the Day of Christ must first appear before the Lord can return. Paul wrote, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6). According to Paul, Christ will perform a good work in us ‘til the Day of Jesus Christ. Until then, no man is to know the hour, but is to live in expectancy of the hour within That Day. Thus, we are to “approve things that are excellent; that you may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ” (Phil. 1:10). Until when? Until the Day of Christ: “let no man deceive you by any means”! Likewise Paul wrote that we are sealed UNTIL the Day of Redemption (Eph. 4:30). Christ in Scripture always without fail initially returns in the night, not before the night, nor imminently. Surely at midnight there was a cry made—being nighttime (Mark 13:33-37; Luke 17:34; 1 Thess. 5:2)! This is why Christians are to watch and be wise—they are to see the Day approaching and provoke one another to love and good works (Heb. 10:25), for the first to be redeemed will be the prepared in the Body of Christ who biblically watch in That Night (1 Thess. 5:6-8). In concert, the Night-trib View featured in this work. The Lord’s initial coming for the wise of the parable is symbolized by the Day of Atonement (Lev. 23:27—also a Fall Feast), which is the Day of Redemption (Eph. 4:30)—which is the Day of Jesus Christ (Philip. 1:6, 10)—which is the Day of Christ (2 Cor. 2:16; 2 Thess. 2:2-3)—which is the Day of the Lord Jesus (1 Cor. 5:5; 2 Cor. 1:14)— which is the Day of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 1:7-8)—which is the Lord’s Day (Rev. 1:10)—which is the Day of the Lord which comes as a thief in the night (1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Pet. 3:10)—which again is the Day that Christians are to see approaching (Heb. 10:25), lest the Day come upon Christians unawares (Luke 21:34). The above are excerpts from GET READY, which will be available at amazon by August 1.
Posted on: Sat, 20 Jul 2013 15:10:50 +0000