The things that Jesus said and did on Earth and the impact He has had on the twenty centuries that have since passed are both wonderful and amazing.

The reality of Jesus returning to Earth will be far beyond amazing.

It is not a myth. Picture the literal and physical return of Jesus Christ to Earth at the Second Coming.

In a way, motion picture special effects are conditioning the human mind to behold what God can and will do in actual reality.

There are those who do not believe that a literal and physical return of Jesus Christ is going to happen or is even possible. The looks on the faces of those unbelievers who live to see that amazing day will give a whole new meaning to that old 1960s adage called “blowing your mind.”

With computerized special effects, it is now quite possible to depict Jesus leading an Army of Angels out of Heaven while riding down through the Sky on a White Horse and touching down on the Mount of Olives. That would be spectacular and thrilling to watch, and yet this prophesied event will have, in actual reality, a zillion times more impact.

There are two main schools of thought on the event that I and many others believe precedes by at least seven years the literal, physical Second Coming of Jesus, and it is known as the Rapture of the Church. One is a pre-tribulation rapture, and the other is a post-tribulation rapture.

Some [post-tribulation] believe scripture teaches that the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ are one and the same event. Others [pre-tribulation] believe that the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ are two separate events.

We know that the Second Coming of Christ happens at the end of the seven-year tribulation period because scripture, especially in the book of Revelation, describes so many things during those seven years that will happen prior to Jesus’ return. The book of Revelation was revealed to John by Jesus Himself. Jesus also says that if He were to not return when He plans to at the end of the seven years, no flesh would be saved (Matthew 24:22, Mark 13:20).

Pre-tribulation Rapture verses include Rev. 3:10, 1 Thess. 5: 9-10, and 1 Thess. 1:10, which allude to believers being caught up to be spared from the wrath of God. Jesus is not going to subject His bride (The Church) to seven years of wrath upon an evil God-hating world.

The Apostle Paul describes the Rapture as something that will occur in the twinkling of an eye (1 Cor. 15:50-54). The Second Coming of Jesus Christ is described in scripture as an event that will take much longer than a mere “twinkling of an eye.” Revelation 1:7 and Revelation 19:14 are two accounts of what the Second Coming will look like.

Jesus compares the Rapture to the days of Noah in that no one knows the day it will happen, and many won’t believe it is even going to happen at all. Just as in the days of Noah, people will be going about their business when, suddenly, that day arrives. And like the rains came down and the Ark began to rise, the Church will go up (Matthew 24:37-39).

Whoever lives through the seven-year tribulation should know exactly when the Second Coming will happen because the prophet Daniel (Dan: 8) reveals the exact number of days [1,260] between the ‘abomination of desolation” committed by the Antichrist and the literal Second Coming of Christ. Jesus said that nobody knows the day or the hour of our Blessed Hope (The Rapture) and thus compares it with the days of Noah when the Flood caught people unaware. Jesus wanted us to see the parallels between the Flood and the Rapture.

It would hardly be like in the days of Noah if we could count down the days to the Rapture.

There is no reason to fear the Rapture. It will be the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to every single person who is blessed to be a part of it.

The very good news is that all true followers of Jesus Christ alive at the time will be raptured no matter what their position is on the timing of the Rapture.

Fear of the unknown, fear of the supernatural, and attachment to life on Earth as we know it can translate into fear of the Rapture. Perfect love [embodied in our Lord and Savior] casts out all fear (1 John 4:18), and so we need to trust 100% in Jesus with all of our hearts, minds, and souls. Fear not; Jesus knows exactly what He is doing and will orchestrate the Rapture in a perfectly wonderful, beautiful way.

It is not unnatural for a younger believer to hope for a delay in the Rapture, just as it is not unnatural for a believer who is older in years to hope the Rapture happens “the sooner, the better.” The young feel like their life on Earth has just begun, and the old are sick and tired of witnessing countless acts of wickedness and evil. Yet we are aware that if there seems to be a delay in our Savior calling us home, it is for the sake of precious souls that still can and will be saved.

Why is there going to be a Rapture? Because the Church (believers) is not appointed to the wrath that will be poured out in the tribulation upon a wicked Christ-rejecting and God-hating world (Rev. 3:10, 1 Thess. 5:9-10, 1Thess.1:10).

The Rapture will have a major effect on everyone who is left behind, and many false reasons will be given for the disappearance.

Two thousand years of anticipating the return of Jesus has lulled the masses to sleep. That is one of the main reasons that the Rapture will come upon us with sudden swiftness, just like the rains in the Days of Noah and the fire and brimstone in the days of Lot.

The Ark took about 100 years to build, and Noah continually warned those who were mocking him right up until the day arrived that God supernaturally sealed the door of the Ark and unleashed the waters of the firmament to flood the earth. It was at that moment that it became too late for the mockers, and all of the mocking stopped.

During the last two thousand years, Jesus has prepared a place for His true followers and, figuratively speaking, has built a different kind of Ark – one that is supernatural in nature. Only this time, it is not going to rise slowly upon the water. Rather, a rapid transformation in the twinkling of an eye will take place as Jesus receives all who love and trust Him as well as all who have died over the centuries loving and trusting Him.

Just like in the days of Noah, many will mock and scoff and refuse to believe such an amazing thing could actually happen.

People had 100 years to get on board with Noah and 2,000 years to get on board with Jesus, bound for that heavenly place He has prepared for us (John 14:3). And in that split-second when the trumpet blows and the Lord calls, we will be given new eternal, incorruptible bodies.

Anyone left behind after the Rapture takes place who still denies that Bible prophecy is being fulfilled will be giving a much deeper meaning to the act of denial.

For others left behind, The Rapture will provide proof that the Holy God of the Holy Bible really is, in fact, God and that He alone is trustworthy and in control of His creation. Witnessing His supernatural power will give many the courage to believe in Him even though their physical lives will be in peril for doing so. (Rev. 13:7).

Those who like to point out that the English word rapture is not in the Bible have a problem. The event known as the “Rapture” is most definitely described multiple times in the Bible, and the Hebrew wedding protocols are an amazing picture of the Rapture, including the fact that only the Father knows the day or hour that the Son will go to bring his bride to her new home.

Paul explains exactly what the Rapture is in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-55. These words define a disappearance, a great catching away, a radical departure, to deliver, a transferring from earth to heaven. In Hebrew are the words natzal and metzal, and in Greek, those Hebrew words translate to harpazo. Harpazo in Latin becomes raptero or rapio, which translates to rapture in English. They all describe what Paul explained in the above scriptures. The words to describe it are just that. It is the event itself that matters.

Some long for the Rapture with all of their hearts, and some kind of welcome it with reservations. Either way, it is going to happen according to the will and the timing of our Holy God, our Heavenly Father.

No one can possibly imagine the wonderous life that God, through his amazing grace and mercy, has planned for those who have accepted the free gift of salvation (1 Cor. 2:9).

Some of those left behind will write off the Rapture as a fluke along the lines of the so-called “big bang,” or as some kind of massive alien abduction, or any number of wild theories. The evil globalist cabal will continue their work to bring the Antichrist into full power, at which time that man of sin will step up the persecution and martyrdom of those who have turned to Christ, as well as to prepare for his very vain attempt to actually fight against Jesus and His Heavenly Host upon Jesus’ return.

Attempting to fight against the supernatural powers of Almighty God and His Son Jesus will likely go down as the dumbest idea in the history of the world.

There are those who attempt to fight against God intellectually or through the medium of theology and those who will actually attempt to fight Him physically. The last battle, called Armageddon, will prove the futility of trying to fight against God at all.

God has complete supernatural control over all of the forces of nature, as He demonstrated many times throughout the Bible by doing amazing miraculous things that completely defy reality as we know it.

Those demonstrations were but tiny glimpses of His total power.

Most of us have seen videos on YouTube of big-wave surfers riding waves 100 feet high at a place called Nazare in Portugal, and it highlights how small humans are by comparison. These giant waves are but ripples in the bathtub to God Almighty. His supernatural power is unfathomable; it is off the charts. We have no charts to measure such power.

Jesus will return as a Conquering King to put an end to the reign of Antichrist and his False Prophet and their evil ways. He will put an end to those seven years that will be more horrible than ever was or will be on planet Earth. No flesh would be saved at all if He were not to return and, with supernatural power, put an end to the evil as well as the time of wrath (Matthew 24:22 and Mark 13:20).

The idea of human armies, marshaled by that master terrorist, Satan, for one last-ditch stand in an attempt to battle against the supernatural powers belonging to Him who spoke the universe into existence, is going to go down as the ultimate glorification of stupidity and arrogance.

The Second Coming of Jesus Christ will bring a welcome end to the seven-year tribulation period, also known as the 70th Week of Daniel.

Trust in Jesus or trust in the pseudo-intellectual ramblings and theoretical rumblings of fallen man. It will be the most important choice anyone will ever make.

The Rapture, the Seven-Year Tribulation Period, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, followed by 1,000 years of peace on Earth with Jesus ruling from Jerusalem, the final banishment of Satan at the very end of the millennial kingdom, and then the creation of a new Heaven and new Earth that will last forever without a trace of evil or wickedness. Some long for it, some mock and scoff at the thought of it, some deny it could possibly happen, and some will foolishly attempt to fight and fail against Almighty God in an attempt to prevent it.

From Genesis to the creation of a new Heaven and Earth. This is God’s “Week of Creation,” for we know that 1,000 years is as a day to the Lord (2 Peter 3:8).

We are somewhere in the midst of the “birth pains” Jesus spoke of (Matthew 24:8) and nearing the very end of the first “Six Days” with only the Rapture and the Seven-year Tribulation standing between life on Earth as we know it and the last Millennium (the last day of God’s Week) when Jesus will reign from Jerusalem for 1,000 years with the redeemed lending Him a helping hand.

All of us who long for God’s will to be done and love, believe, and trust in Jesus need to keep looking up, for our redemption (our Blessed Hope) is drawing nigh.

Dear Ones… The Signs are Everywhere… Our Blessed Hope is so Very Near.

Any precious soul who has read these words and does not know Jesus, please call on Him today. He longs to save you, give you the gift of eternal life, and be your best friend now and through all eternity.

Your friend in Him,

Rick Segoine

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All who have read this article are welcome to visit ricksegoine.net, where free e-copy downloads of my book “From God to Eternity” and free downloads of original gospel songs and story songs are available.

 

[A]. INTRODUCTION

[This I want to say to American Christians – the main section of this article is not American-based, but Australian, but please don’t ignore it because of that. The “disease” we have will soon be yours also. Please read through.]

As you read this, the terrible thing of which I speak is in progress.)

The homosexual lobbies are powerful and in very high places, and very well financed. I want to write about this, but I realize so much is happening that we can’t get the full story and can often accept only what we can obtain from credible outlets.

I know this sodomite behavior is in every place, but Australia is going out of its way to adopt and legislate for the practice, so those who don’t agree are ostracized and denied jobs. That is how serious it has become. Many homosexuals are now going under the name “the Pride.”

Australia, with maybe no more than 1% of born-again Christians, has been adopting every type of deviant behavior, which has infiltrated the education system. When the Christian base is low, then the salt of the earth is lacking, and foulness will increase. Make no mistake about this – the homosexual lobby is hateful of Christians, and the GAY movements oppose Christians and are trying to legislate against them.

The irony is that all that is biblical in sexuality and marriage, etc., has been overthrown, and what’s perverse has replaced it. You will not get organizations and government agencies that support homosexuality ever wanting to uphold any Christian principles on these issues. In Australia, the homosexual lobby is fighting like mad to quash any endeavor to establish freedom of religion and personal freedoms. They want them removed. It is all satanic and as foul as was Sodom and Gomorrah.

[B]. THE FOOTBALL CODES

In Australia, football in all three codes (soccer would make 4) is god! The football leagues have come out in support of homosexuality and GAY Pride. Look what that means:

Reported in the Daily Mail, February 16, 2022

“In the NRL (National Rugby League)… seven Manly Sea Eagles players sat out a key match in the lead-up to the finals [last year] after the club opted to wear rainbow-striped pride jerseys without notifying the squad. John Aloiai, Tolutau Koula, Haumole Olakau’atu, Jason Saab, Josh Schuster, Toafofoa Sipley and Christian Tuipulotu all refused to wear the jersey, citing religious reasons for their decision.”

These brave men are Christians from Melanesian and Polynesian nations of the South Pacific, and they have jeopardized their careers for their Christian stand. They refused to support homosexuality. This is the mandate coming – bow your knee to the homosexual god or face the consequences. All over, we now see this militant mandating; in football and elsewhere.

Also Reported in the Daily Mail, February 16, 2023:

Outrage after six-year-olds told they must wear ‘pride shirts’ to play soccer at half-time of an A-League game

• A-League pride round held later this month
• Kids will play a half-time game
• To take the field, they must wear pride T-shirts

Parents of primary school-age children have been told their kids are required to wear pride t-shirts if they want to play in an A-League half-time game.

The game is taking place during the A-League’s inaugural Pride Celebration round held between February 24-26, with a follow-up round on March 4 in New Zealand.

The marquee game of the round is between Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory at Melbourne’s AAMI Park on February 26 – when the children will take the field during the break.”

Two years ago, Israel Folau from Fiji, a wonderful Christian, the best Rugby Union player in Australia and one of the best in the world, was sacked because on a social media platform, he posted this verse – 1Corinthians 6:9-10 “or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”

(But instead of “inherit the kingdom of heaven,” he said “would go to hell.”) For posting something against homosexuality, he was sacked, and it had nothing to do with his workplace. This is the power of the homosexual lobbies in Australia and the assistance all governments are giving to them. Some football teams are wearing rainbow colors on the jerseys in support of the Pride (new term for homosexuality). The plague is growing.

There are reports of discrimination against Christians in the workplace ranging from dismissal to denial of job promotion and loss of benefits if they do not ascribe to Gay Pride. This is mandating worse than Covid was. It can be very subtle; that is, the person is not told, “You will lose promotion if you don’t support Pride,” but he/she knows very well it is for that reason.

Over the past few years, the Australian Parliament had the chance to pass a bill to protect persons of faith against persecution/discrimination for their beliefs (including Moslems too), but the Australian Labor Party and the Greens (communists) refused to support it. They are the ones who hate Christians.

[C]. WHAT IS THIS PRIDE?

The name goes back to Brenda Howard, a bisexual New York activist nicknamed the “Mother of Pride,” who organized the first Pride parade to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall uprising.

What is the Pride symbol? The rainbow flag, created by artist Gilbert Baker in 1978, is widely known as the symbol of Pride. (There is no pride in deviant sin. In fact, they ought to be ashamed.)

I would like to add here that the rainbow is a Christian symbol that has been taken and abused by Satan and the organizers of homosexuality. Noah was given the sign of the rainbow as a seal of the covenant God made with him. Genesis 9:16 “When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” It is also God’s sign in heaven. Revelation 4:3 “and He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance, and there was a rainbow around the throne like an emerald in appearance.”

The following quote comes from CNN Health:

“Pride events are geared toward anyone who feels like their sexual identity falls outside the mainstream – although many straight people join in, too.

LGBT is an acronym meaning lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. The term sometimes is extended to LGBTQ, or even LGBTQIA, to include queer, intersex and asexual groups. Queer is an umbrella term for non-straight people; intersex refers to those whose sex is not clearly defined because of genetic, hormonal or biological differences; and asexual describes those who don’t experience sexual attraction.

These terms may also include gender fluid people or those whose gender identity shifts over time or depending on the situation.”

Of course, you would expect CNN to be in support of this deviant practice.

[D]. A GREAT TRAVESTY IS COMING UPON US

Sydney, Australia, hosts the largest “Gay Rights Madi-Gras” in the world, and up to 600,000 people line the streets of Sydney to see it each year; millions more watch on television. In that Mardi Gras, the most perverse things are on display, and the Lord Jesus and the Christian faith are openly and unashamedly mocked. Not Islam, by the way; only Christianity. We know why Islam would not be mocked!

The following article comes from “Planet Dwellers”:

“During Sydney WorldPride, (February 2023), you can enjoy much-loved Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras events, including the Parade, Party, Fair Day and Laneway – as well as one-off WorldPride events, from major headliners to theatrical performances and community events.

In total, the 17-day celebration will feature over 300 events – including a star-studded opening concert, sizzling Bondi Beach Party, landmark Human Rights Conference, First Nations Gala Concert, huge Pride March across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and big closing concert.”

Also from Condé Nast Traveller:

“In 2023, Sydney is welcoming back travelers with a bang by hosting WorldPride 2023 to mark the 45th anniversary of its first Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras parade and the fifth year of Australian marriage equality in the country. The splashy arrival of WorldPride in the Southern Hemisphere is happening in the New South Wales state capital from February 17 to March 5, and the biennial event is forecasted to be the city’s greatest calendar item of the year – also coinciding with Sydney’s annual one-day Mardi Gras Pride festival. With more than 300 WorldPride discos, exhibits, sports competitions, films, workshops, plays, rallies (and, of course, mind-blowing drag shows), there’s no doubt that for two weeks, Sydney will serve the world queer glory it has never seen.”

THIS IS WHAT IS BEING FORCED ON TO US:

“GAY PRIDE IN Australia = Acknowledgement of country

Sydney WorldPride will take place on the lands of the Gadigal, Cammeraygal, Bidjigal, Darug, [and] Dharawal people, who are the Traditional Custodians of the Sydney Basin.

We pay our Respects to their Elders past and present. Always was Always will be Aboriginal Land.

Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people come from many different clans and communities across Australia & in 2023 will come together as one to celebrate with our global LGBTQIA+ community.”

Homosexuality is being mixed with aboriginal spiritism, both evil practices. In Australia, there will be a vote on “The Voice” (an independent, representative advisory body for First Nations people) later in the year, which will give control to a few aborigines over the rest of us and impose spiritist culture on us. White Australians will be considered invaders whose rights must be taken away.

Things are really bad. The worship of the aborigines is the Rainbow Serpent – no wonder the homosexuals have linked up with them.

[E]. IT COMES FROM THE TOP DOWN

Australia has a reprobate government that is extreme left to Marxist (but that is what the people want – they voted for them!). It has authorized abortion, homosexual marriage, gender distortion, and many other anti-Christian policies.

Reported from CHANNEL 7:

“Anthony Albanese will be the first sitting Australian Prime Minister to march in Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras when he joins the parade for the WorldPride festival.

The prime minister says he will be joined by Foreign Minister Penny Wong, the first openly gay woman in parliament, when he takes part in the event later in February. [Incidentally, Penny Wong is a member of a Uniting Church in Adelaide.]

“I’ll be the first prime minister not to watch the march for Mardi Gras, but to march,” he told a crowd at the official opening of “Pride Square” at Newtown, in Sydney’s inner west.

Albanese said on Saturday his government was committed to removing inequality on the basis of sexuality or people’s identities. “We speak a lot about tolerance – and tolerance is really important – but this is about a step that is way more important than tolerance,” he said.

[What Albanese means by tolerance is that all must accept the Government’s perverse and wicked ways, or you will be canceled out. You have to be tolerant of foul Government decisions.]

[F]. THIS IS WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN SYDNEY IN FEBRUARY AND MARCH:

So much happening

Sydney WorldPride will incorporate all the beloved Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras events, plus a broad festival offering – across arts, sport, theatre, concerts, parties, First Nations programming, and a human rights conference.

In total, it is expected over 200 events will be staged as part of the broader Sydney WorldPride Festival, to be enjoyed by over 500,000 people.

Official events include:

• Opening and Closing Concerts at The Domain
• A Human Rights Conference
• Pride March across the Sydney Harbour Bridge
• Bondi Beach Party
• First Nations Gala Concert
• Pride Villages, closing streets in the heartland of LGBTQIA+ Sydney – Oxford Street – for street stalls, art and community parties.
• A full arts and culture program
• WorldPride Sports

There’ll also be related side events throughout Greater Sydney and in wider Australia.

There are many more amazing acts rolling out across town, including Pride Villages street-party pop-ups along Oxford Street; Klub Village drag-circus-cabaret parties showcasing First Nations artists; and the open-air Domain Dance Party featuring Kelly Rowland of Destiny’s Child. The event will air on ABC TV in Australia.

The ABC is the tax-funded broadcaster for Australia. It has become extremely anti-Christian, hateful in fact, and the promoter of all that is base and filthy and deviant. School children will be dragged into this also. This is an ongoing destruction of a nation, but it must come because of the following:

1. We are in the last days of the Church age.
2. Australia rejected God some time back.
3. Our governments are the most evil ones ever in the nation.
4. People are accepting homosexuality and aboriginal spiritism/Satanism as a way of life.

[G]. SODOM AND GOMORRAH AND THE CHRISTIAN

What happened to Sodom was no freak of nature. It was a divine judgment from God. God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will also reap. Sodom sowed homosexuality and reaped overthrow and destruction.

Modern-day sodomites (particularly its leaders and activists) think they are invulnerable and have become arrogant and lord it over “decent” people with their sin. They are intolerant and, in fact, fit many of the descriptions of 2Timothy 3:1-4.

Christians can do nothing about this. Prayer, yes, but can do nothing actively. We ought to realize that this is just another downward step in the last days. In some ways, it is depressing as it creates a gloominess of spirit as in a darkness that can be felt. However, the Christian has the whole resources of God at his disposal. On those, we must rely more and more.

If the Christian churches wanted to have a parade down Sydney streets with some streets being closed off, there would be an emphatic rejection. And that is called “tolerance” by Albanese. The new mandate is here!

For any American who may have read this far, I can only say this. You don’t have a whole national event of such evil being thrust on you, but beware, for I believe it will come knocking on your door sooner than you realize.

How good it would be to have a Ron DeSantis to be in control of my nation Australia, but you know what? I don’t think he would be tolerated here. There is so much wickedness; with only 1% born-again Christians in the nation, he would not be elected. You people in Florida are blessed for now.

Homosexuality is destructive of the human spirit, of dignity, of godliness, of true marriage, and of morality. God has created the whole universe to work correctly with principles and consequences. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction – a law of physics. Homosexuality is the action, and the divine judgment of God will be the reaction.

When will God’s judgment fall? I don’t think it will happen before the Rapture; it may to a certain degree, but I think in the age of grace, it will not. God’s storehouses of wrath are almost filled with the gross sins of the world, and very soon, they will be emptied.

Christian, look up, for your salvation draws VERY close.

ronaldf@aapt.net.au