Advent! :: By Terry James

Published on: by RR10 Category:General Articles, Terry James

Christmastime, celebrating the birth of Jesus, is for us a joyous occasion. Christ’s first coming to Earth to be the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world must have been, however, for His Father, an excruciating matter beyond any human ability to fathom.

Only the unfathomable love of God could condescend to meet humankind’s need for a Savior in a way that would require such sacrifice.

The Father’s love in sending His Son in that first Advent brings forth a terrible realization: His vengeance on the wicked who have rejected His Son will bring wrath and judgment, the likes of which are almost beyond imagination.

The rebel armies of Earth will be gathered by God Himself to the most horrific killing field of all wars. As the Second Advent proceeds and the black clouds of Tribulation part, a brilliant light from glory will illuminate not the baby of Bethlehem but the King of all kings and Lord of all lords.

Leaders of the forces meeting at Armageddon to battle each other will turn to see the brightness that has broken through the darkness that has overcast Earth’s skies because of the judgments of God. Antichrist, supreme leader of much of the forces west of the Euphrates River, will recognize the invading force from Heaven. Perhaps the leaders from the 200 million-man armies from the Orient that have crossed the dried-up Euphrates from the East will also know what the brilliant heavenly intrusion is all about. All earthly forces will then turn to concentrate their fire on the descending heavenly army led by Jesus Christ.

While the sea of humanity on the planet’s surface viciously roars in an attempt to prevent the heavenly intervention, those warring forces will turn from battling with each other to curse God and all His righteousness. Then Jesus Christ, mounted upon a stunning white steed, will speak words sharper than a two-edged sword.

Master to Calm Storm

I am convinced Christ’s words will be the same ones He spoke to that raging sea of Galilee nearly two millennia ago (read Mark 4:36-41). They are the same words He says today to everyone who turns to Him, acknowledging that there is nothing and no one but Christ who can save them. He says those words to all who accept Him and trust Him to save them from their sins and to make them born-again children of God.

Just as His words instantaneously calmed that violent sea, thus saving the men in the little boat, Jesus’ words will instantly end the warfare and rebellion at Armageddon. Christ’s words to the individual’s troubled heart likewise bring tranquility and joy to the soul. A person is never the same when Jesus speaks the life-changing words: “Peace, be still” (Mark 4:39).

Bloody Peace

When Jesus speaks the words, “Peace, be still,” at Armageddon, His command will be against all the vileness that has been building in humanistic rebellion over the thousands of years since God last judged in such a mighty way. All people died in the Flood except Noah and seven others. Christ’s words at Armageddon will apparently cause most, if not all, of the soldiers of the armies of the world gathered there to literally burst open, so powerful will be His command!

The plains of Armageddon will flow with a flood of blood! The Scripture says of this event:

“And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs” (Revelation 14:20).

The point is, when Jesus speaks, His words are sharper and more powerful than a two-edged sword, Scripture says. When Christ speaks, all opposition by Earth’s armies will instantly cease and desist. All will lie horribly bloody–but peaceful—upon the vast killing field called Armageddon.

Jesus on the Throne!

Jesus, following His stunning victory over the enemies of God, will proceed to get the people of Israel who have, during the Tribulation, come to believe in Him. He will rescue them from the place God has hidden them. This hiding of believing Israel (all Jewish people who have accepted that Jesus was and is their Messiah) is revealed in the following passage:

“And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.

And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.

And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 12:13-17).

The Hiding Place

Satan’s Antichrist forces will try to completely wipe the Jewish race from the face of the earth. They will try to fully implement Satan’s Final Solution. But God will intervene with great supernatural catastrophe and prevent Antichrist from finding the Jews. God will have hidden them somewhere. As we’ve looked at before, many prophetic scholars believe the hiding place will be in the Jordanian desert, in the “rose-red city” called Petra.

Jesus will retrieve these believing Jews from their hiding place and will use this remnant of the Jewish race to be His nation of Israel during His thousand-year rule on Earth called the Millennium.

Israel Saved!

The Bible says a third of Jews alive during the Tribulation will recognize their Messiah, Jesus Christ, at the moment He returns in the Second Coming. It will be a real eye-opener for them.

“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10).

Jesus will then move, with His saints of the Church Age and His chosen people (all of saved Israel), to Jerusalem. He will set up His throne upon a topographically changed Mt. Moriah in the Millennial Temple He will build.

Antichrist and False Prophet Judgment

The Lord Jesus will judge Antichrist and the False Prophet, who have persecuted Tribulation saints—particularly the Jewish race (Israel). We learn of these two beasts in the following:

“And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone” (Revelation 19:20).

These two will be the first to be cast into Hell. They will have it to themselves until a thousand years later, after the white throne judgment.

Satan’s Confinement

The Devil will next be grabbed and confined for a thousand years.

“And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 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” (Revelation 20:1-3).

The bottomless pit is the same place from where the rich man, in torment, looked into Paradise to see Lazarus in Abraham’s Bosom, according to Jesus’ teaching (read Luke 16:19–31).

Sheep and Goat Judgments

Christ will judge the nations. Their fate will hang upon how they treated His chosen people, the Jews. The “goat” nations will stand on Christ’s left while He judges, while the “sheep” nations will stand on His right.

All in the goat nations will be cast into everlasting darkness, lost for eternity. These nations consist of individually lost souls, each of whom will, apparently, be placed in nations that have persecuted Jews and, most likely, Tribulation saints as well. The nations so judged will no longer be part of the nations of Earth. (Read Matthew 25:32–46 to learn exactly what the Word of God has to say about that great future judgment.)

It is logical to presume the saved people who have lived in the goat, or lost, nations will be put into the sheep nations, which will be allowed into the Millennial Kingdom. Likewise, the unsaved people who have lived in the sheep nations will go into the goat nations to meet their eternal fate in outer darkness.

Saints of the Tribulation who make it through the seven years alive will, individually, go into the nations that have treated Israel kindly. However, it must be recognized that the children who will be born during the Millennium will have to make the same decision their parents made: to either accept or reject Christ for salvation. Millions will not do so and will be as rebellious as those who lived before this time of Christ’s glorious, thousand-year reign on Earth. These unsaved will join Satan in the final rebellion when he is released from the bottomless pit for a brief time. All will be destroyed and will spend eternity in Hell apart from God.

Millions of others, who are the children of the saints who go into the Millennium, will accept Christ and will, ultimately, live eternally with God. These offspring of the Tribulation saints who go into the Millennium will be the peoples who will continue to repopulate the earth for a thousand years. All of these individuals will be saved for eternity.

Fantastic Changes!

Jesus will assume the throne that belongs to Him alone. It is called the “Throne of David.” David, apparently, because of God’s own choosing, will, in his supernatural state, also rule over the nation of Israel during the Millennial era.

“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory” (Matthew 25:30).

The terrain of Jerusalem and of the whole world will supernaturally change in accordance with a masterful sweep of King Jesus’ hand. We are given a glimpse of those astonishing topographical and environmental changes prophesied to take place in that day. (Read Zechariah 14:4–9).

Like in Eden

Jesus will make the earth like it was in the time of the Garden of Eden. It will be a crime-free world for the most part. Anyone who does commit a crime will be dealt with immediately and from a righteous justice system that has perfect knowledge of all things involved in the crime.

Many prophecy students believe Church Age saints will be officers of the Supreme’s court of justice in the administration of King Jesus. As supernatural officers of the court, they will certainly be equipped to handle such a duty.

But, again, crime will be almost nonexistent compared to our present hour. Christ’s saints, both flesh-and-blood and supernatural ones, will doubtless have wonderfully creative things to do for those thousand years. Anticipating that time of glorious service should empower us for our Royal Ambassador service here on Earth!

The Second Advent will bring the glorious time on Earth the utopian dreamers have longed for throughout the centuries. It will be the Lord Jesus Christ, not the would-be masters of this fallen world, who will construct the new heavens and new earth.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

***Terry James REVELATIONS Trilogy ***

Terry James’ three novels in his eye-opening Revelations trilogy are now in a boxed set – ideal for Christmas gift-giving.

Although the novels are, of course, fictional accounts of these bizarre times—so near Christ’s call to believers in the Rapture—Terry’s decades of factual study and presentation of Bible prophecy ring true throughout its pages. His devotion to God’s truth, in every sense, makes his storytelling come alive with believability for the reader.

Revelations: The Complete Trilogy is now available in an attractive set for gift-giving or for personal use. This set is especially great as a gift for your young adults and those within your family circle.

Book 1: Revelations

Book 2: Michael

Book 3: Messiah

Note from the author: My prayerful hope is that, through these novels, the Holy Spirit will impart to readers’ spirits the truth these stories present. The world is full of distraction through entertainment of every sort that can take a person’s thoughts far from matters important to the Lord. Entertainment centered in truth from the Creator will, I prayerfully hope, through Holy Spirit intervention, capture readers’ curiosity—thus causing them to explore further what God the Heavenly Father has done for them through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

I would appreciate your support in purchasing this boxed set to help spread God’s truth through fictional entertainment before the eyes of as many as possible. I am praying these novels make an impact on the souls who need Jesus.

—Terry James

To order your copy today, here is a link to the boxed set: http://geni.us/rnYRy

 

Proof the Church Is Not In the Tribulation: Part 2 :: By Ron Ferguson

Published on: by RR10 Category:General Articles

We continue looking at the reasons that prove the Church, the Body of Christ, can have no part in the coming wrath of God in the Tribulation. God’s members of the Bride are delivered from that coming judgment. Of course, I know there are some who do not accept the Tribulation is the literal event the Bible describes, but I am not going down that track today.

[5]. THE THIRD SCRIPTURAL REFERENCE – ALAS THE DAY OF THE LORD HAD COME!

For this, we look at 2 Thessalonians where that church had a real problem. In his visit to the believers for three weeks, Paul taught them about the DAY of the LORD. That is a common term in all the prophetic books for that period in history when God will intervene in the affairs of men with open judgment. This will be a terrible time on earth. (I have a full study on this “The DAY of the LORD” in the RaptureReady archives.) There is much in the Old Testament prophets explaining the events in the DAY of the Lord.

Anyway, Paul taught the Thessalonians that the DAY of the LORD was a terrible time of suffering and that it occurred in the Tribulation, but believers would be delivered from that terrible time by the Rapture. Paul wrote this – 2Thessalonians 2:1-2 “Now we request you, brethren, with regard to THE COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST AND OUR GATHERING TOGETHER TO HIM, that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, TO THE EFFECT THAT THE DAY OF THE LORD HAS COME.”

The saints at Thessalonica were greatly disturbed that they were in the DAY of the LORD because they were suffering persecution and trouble. In other words, they believed they were in the Tribulation and had missed out on the Rapture. The DAY of the LORD covers the period straight after the Rapture until the Millennium. The “coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him” is the Rapture.

They were disturbed they had missed out. Some false teachers were telling them the DAY of the LORD had come already. They wrote to Paul in their distress, and that is the background for 2 Thessalonians. In the previous letter, Paul detailed the Rapture in chapter 4. 2 Thessalonians is Paul’s response to their dilemma.

This is what he explained to them – 2Thessalonians 2:3-5 “Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come UNLESS THE APOSTASY COMES FIRST, and THE MAN OF LAWLESSNESS IS REVEALED, the son of destruction who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. DO YOU NOT REMEMBER that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?”

This is a very critical passage for the pre-Tribulation Rapture. Paul says the DAY of the LORD will not come UNLESS first has come “the apostasy.” It is extremely unfortunate that most Bible versions translate the Greek word ἀποστασία (apostasia) as an apostasy from the faith or as rebellion. Let us be very clear here: apostasy from the faith is not something of the last days. It happened in Laodicea, and look at the Roman Catholic church from 600 AD onwards, and of the Middle Ages and the horrible heresies of the 300 – 1000 AD, like Arianism and Gnosticism that decimated the Christian faith. Apostasy has always been with us. NO, the word does not mean apostasy! It means something else.

The word means “departure,” and it is not departure from the faith as in the 2 Thessalonian usage. It means a departure in location. That is, a translation from earth to heaven – the Church removed from earth to heaven. Some who want to defend the Church being in the Tribulation can get very abusive, as one did to me in a posting of mine in another place. Let me explain the use of this word better from a previous article I prepared in the past:

The expression (apostasia) normally means defection, revolt, or rebellion BUT it can also be translated by “disappearance” or “departure,” and it has been suggested by Greek scholar Kenneth Wuest in Prophetic Light in the Present Darkness and by E. Schuyler English in Rethinking the Rapture that the reference is not to an apostasy from the faith (didn’t that occur some 1,600 years ago and throughout history?) but to the translation of the church from the world.

Wuest points out that the word “apostasia” is derived from the root verb “afistami,” which means “to remove, withdraw, depart, go away, etc.” Of its 15 occurrences in the New Testament, it is 11 times translated “depart,” and Wuest accordingly argues that the substantive must mean “departure” or “going away.” And since the Greek text has the definite article [ἡ = THE], then a particular departure is in view. It is, and that departure is the removal of the Church. These are the 15 references. My text for these verses is the NASB.

Luke 8:13 “And those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation FALL AWAY.”

Luke 13:27 “and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; DEPART from Me, all you evildoers.'”

Luke 2:37 “and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. And she never LEFT the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers.”

Luke 4:13 “And when the devil had finished every temptation, he DEPARTED from Him until an opportune time.”

Acts 12:10 “And when they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street; and immediately the angel DEPARTED from him.”

Acts 15:38 “But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had DESERTED them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work.”

Acts 19:9 “But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he WITHDREW from them and took away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.”

Acts 22:29 “Therefore those who were about to examine him immediately LET GO of him; and the commander also was afraid when he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had put him in chains.”

2 Corinthians 12:8 “Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might DEPART from me.”

1 Timothy 6:5 “Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such WITHDRAW thyself.” (AV)

Hebrews 3:12 “Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in FALLING AWAY from the living God.”

And, of course, 2 Thessalonians 2:3 our verse, and one other I have misplaced.

As can be seen, by far the most common usage of “apostasia” is departure or going away. It is the Church that will depart (be raptured) and go away to heaven, AND THEN the lawless Antichrist can be revealed, BUT NOT BEFORE. Paul is saying that because the Antichrist had not been revealed, then the DAY of the Lord has not arrived. They worried about missing the Rapture but Paul reminded them it had not happened, so no worry! They had not missed the Rapture because they died. Paul reminded them he had spoken all about these things when he was with them.

[6]. THE FOURTH SCRIPTURAL REFERENCE – THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE RESTRAINER IN THE CHURCH AGE

We look at the verses – 2 Thessalonians 2:6-8 “You know WHAT RESTRAINS HIM [the appearing of the Antichrist] now, so that in his time he may be revealed, for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only HE WHO NOW RESTRAINS will do so until he is taken out of the way, and then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming.”

In verses 7-8, it is revealed that there is One here who is hindering the full release and revelation of iniquity. This one is the Holy Spirit, and only when He goes can iniquity become fully matured. Only the Holy Spirit can hold back the floodgates of evil rushing in like a torrent; the Church cannot do that; individuals cannot do that. The Holy Spirit WILL and CAN ONLY go when the true Church departs. And then that lawless one (world ruler, Antichrist) will be revealed, whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming (the Second Coming).

The departure (wrongly translated “apostasy”) must happen first. It will kick start the whole of the Tribulation. I hope it can be seen that “the departure of the Church” must occur before any release of judgment upon the earth. Surely, Noah is a pertinent lesson here. He was raised from the earth while the judgment raged below.

Lawlessness is most certainly at work in a serious way right now. This is evident in the political field, in the police force, in increasing racism, and in the judiciary. I am horrified at what I am hearing about so much miscarriage of justice in the United States. Just in people’s dealings with one another, riots and Islamic protests, lawlessness is charging ahead in all Western democracies.

Can you ever imagine what it would be like if the Holy Spirit was not restraining the full outbreak of lawlessness? It would be indescribable. When the Holy Spirit departs with the Church, the lawless one will come into prominence and will be accepted by a lawless world.

This Thessalonians section is certain proof that the Church must leave before the onslaught of wickedness in the Tribulation. With the Church out of the way, evil will have its fullest day.

[7]. THE FIFTH SCRIPTURAL REFERENCE – CHRIST IN RETRIBUTION

This next reference may not be quite as clear as the previous one, but placed in context, the passage is in the prophetic revelations from God through Paul. This is the passage:

2 Thessalonians 1:6-10 “After all it is only just FOR GOD TO REPAY WITH AFFLICTION those who afflict you, and TO GIVE RELIEF TO YOU WHO ARE AFFLICTED and to us as well when the Lord Jesus shall be REVEALED FROM HEAVEN WITH HIS MIGHTY ANGELS IN FLAMING FIRE, dealing out RETRIBUTION to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, WHEN HE COMES TO BE GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS ON THAT DAY, and to be marvelled at among all who have believed, for our testimony to you was believed.”

What is being said here is a general comment for the afflicted Church. It is not pointing at a specific time, but it certainly refers to the Tribulation time. The Lord will give relief to His afflicted people, which is the Rapture. The revealing with His mighty angels in flaming fire is the Second Coming. Jesus comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, which has two applications. The first – He will be glorified in His saints at the Rapture when He comes for them, and second, He will be glorified in His Tribulation saints (the Jewish believers) at the Second Coming.

We, the believers caught up in the Rapture, will marvel at our Redeemer Lord, just as the Tribulation saints will marvel at the Lord when He comes in glory in Revelation 19.

[8]. THE SIXTH SCRIPTURAL REFERENCE – COME UP HERE!

To understand the progression in the book of Revelation, you must carefully note this verse – Revelation 1:19 “Write therefore the things which YOU HAVE SEEN, and the THINGS WHICH ARE, and the things WHICH SHALL TAKE PLACE AFTER THESE THINGS.” That places the book in three parts, the first being what John had seen, and that is Chapter 1; the second being “the things that are,” and that included the 7 churches of John’s time. However, those 7 churches outline in a special way the whole history of the Christian era right to the present and incorporate the last one, Laodicea, the wayward, arrogant church that well represents our period in history. The 7 churches are wonderfully true to the period they represent. That brings us to the end of Chapter 3, the end of the church age.

The third part is “the things which shall take place AFTER THESE THINGS.” That is simple to understand, and the text is saying that from Chapter 4 until Chapter 22, the whole book is prophetic from that point. It speaks of all that is future.

However, to begin that third section of “the things which shall take place after these things,” there is a very important verse, a MOST IMPORTANT verse – Revelation 4:1 “After these things I looked, and behold, A DOOR STANDING OPEN IN HEAVEN, and the first voice which I had heard like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me said, “COME UP HERE, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”

That is the Rapture, and immediately after that, we have the Church in heaven present at the great worship of God, and that is Chapters 4 and 5. At the start of Chapter 6, the seals are broken and the Tribulation begins.

Revelation is so clear that the Rapture must precede the Tribulation. There is no wriggle room in that book. I think the very words spoken by the Lord at the Rapture will be, “COME UP HERE.”

[9]. THE SEVENTH SCRIPTURAL REFERENCE – THE THIEF IN THE NIGHT

We return to 1 Thessalonians where we need to apply logic to understand this reference. Look at it – 1 Thessalonians 5:2-6 “for you yourselves know full well that THE DAY OF THE LORD WILL COME JUST LIKE A THIEF IN THE NIGHT. While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child and they shall not escape, BUT YOU, BRETHREN, ARE NOT IN DARKNESS, THAT THE DAY SHOULD OVERTAKE YOU LIKE A THIEF, for YOU ARE ALL SONS OF LIGHT AND SONS OF DAY. We are not of [the] night nor of darkness, so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.”

Paul continues explaining The DAY of the LORD, which, if you remember, always applies to the Tribulation and into the Millennium, never to the Church age. He says that Day will come like a thief in the night when sudden destruction bursts on an un-expectant world. A thief comes in the night, in the darkness, but Paul says we don’t belong to the darkness because we are sons of light.

The DAY of the LORD is the Tribulation coming into the world, but Christians won’t be overtaken because we are children of light, not of darkness. The Lord raptures us home before that DAY falls on the earth. We don’t belong to the darkness of the world because we belong to the light of God. The Church will not go into the darkness of the Tribulation. Those who teach that are in error and demean the work of Christ in suffering on the cross.

We end this study in the next part.

ronaldf@aapt.net.au