Rapture Mania: Part III

Artist's rendition of the Rapture

Just when is Jesus Christ going to return? Since we don't have the date, we must rely on scripture to alert us to when His return is near.

Christ revealed that wars, rumors of wars, persecution of Christians, increases in earthquakes, famines, pestilences, the explosion of evil, the rise of false prophets and messiahs, and the appearance of the Antichrist would all take place prior to His return. (Matthew 24:4-28)

And then He said this: "Immediately after the distress of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time the sign of the Son of Man (Christ) will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other." (Matthew 24:29-31)

What did Christ reveal? He revealed that the Rapture is going to take place at the very end of the seven-year Tribulation period. Christ revealed that He will rescue His true church from the world just before He pours out His judgment across the earth.

In fact, this event will mirror God's ancient rescue of Lot and his family just before He destroyed the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Genesis 19)

For many Christians, a post-trib Rapture makes absolutely no sense. They contend that Christ warned that He would return at a time when few people were expecting Him: "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come." (Matthew 24:42)

Those who promote the Pre-Tribulation Rapture contend that Christ must return prior to the seven-year Tribulation period because everyone would logically expect His return at the end of this period.

Really? If the Rapture fails to occur before this period begins and the dreaded Antichrist arrives and begins persecuting Christians, what do you think will happen?

Many folks who eagerly anticipated the Rapture and expected to be gone before this wicked ruler appeared will lose their faith. They will feel betrayed by God and will consider the Bible to be a myth. And they will no longer anticipate Christ's return.

Nearly 2,000 years ago, the apostle Paul wrote this: "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

The Pre-Tribulation Rapture is one such myth. Why has it become so popular? Because it offers people the hope that they will escape the Tribulation and avoid the Antichrist's wrath. But that's a false hope based upon conjecture and scripture taken out of context.

Since the church age began 2,000 years ago, Christians have been persecuted and martyred for their faith. In fact, God has never promised any generation of Christians that they would not be persecuted before Christ returned.

Why then does this generation believe that it will avoid persecution via the Rapture? Because too many professing Christians today are cowards who love the world and love their own flesh more than they love their Lord. They are terrified of persecution. And tragically, when it comes to them, many will abandon Christ to save their own skin.

That's what really drives the popularity of Pre-Tribulation Rapture teaching. It sounds good. But it isn't true. And sadly, many folks are going to discover that at some point in the future.