Strong Man Of God Blog

On March 23, 2014 in Bible Prophecy by Robert Kelley

The so-called two-stage Second Coming of Christ where He first comes secretly to evacuate His Church from the earth before seven years of tribulation to include the last three and one half years of great tribulation and then returns after with the saints in glory is no where taught in Scripture. This heresy must be artificially constructed by starting with the false premise that especially the great tribulation is all God’s full on wrath and then fancifully reading into 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 that it is His means of evacuation prior to. However, in context, the apostle Paul is not comforting his readers about an evacuation from tribulation of any kind or wrath. He comforts and instructs them about the saints who have died with his words about their return with Christ.

The dead in Christ will indeed be resurrected and “caught up” together with those yet living to meet Him in the clouds (4:17, NKJV). The two Gospels that present the event in fullness, however, agree Christ’s return is a globally seen and heard affair that immediately follows the great tribulation in which as part of it, He gathers His “elect” to Himself in the sky (Psalm 50:1-6; Matthew 24:29-31; Mark 13:24-27, NKJV). After comforting the Thessalonians about the dead in Christ, Paul says nothing about tribulation, but reminds them of the timing of Christ’s return they had been previously taught and God’s wrath bound together in the “day of the Lord” urging them to comfort each other in His salvation (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, NKJV). Gathered to Christ above the earth, the saints are not touched by God’s wrath poured out in full below. They then descend with Christ to reign on and restore the earth after the battle at Armageddon (Psalm 149:5-9; Joel 3:1-14; Zechariah 14:1-5; Revelation 1:4-8, 2:25-29, 16:12-16)!

The three and one half year great tribulation is initiated by the Antichrist and is the final, bitter and hate filled expression of Satan’s wrath against everyone and everything connected to the God of the Bible before his known millennial vanquish to the “bottomless pit” (Daniel 7:21-25; Matthew 24:15-24; 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12; Revelation 12:7-13:18, 17:16-18:8, 20:1-3, NKJV). God signals the end of the great tribulation by pouring out preliminary displays of His wrath and power directed specifically at the followers of the Antichrist identified by his mark on themselves and their life support; inviting their repentance if it were possible since they are far gone spiritually (Revelation 16:1-9, 10b-11).

Through all of the great tribulation the saints are expected to depend on God in prayer; watching and waiting on the Lord’s return in faith and patience even when as a result of God‘s preliminary judgments in wrath on the Antichrist’s followers, a temporary lack of food, fresh water and suffering from the sun’s activity occurs (Isaiah 50:2; Joel 1:15-20). Some will die waiting knowing that what lies ahead in Christ far exceeds anything they suffer (Romans 8:18-25; Revelation 7:9-17, 14:12-13). Are not the saints affected by and die now in supposedly natural disasters (Jeremiah 30:23-24; Matthew 24:7-8; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11, 25-26)? Still, a remnant endures (1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:15, 17). Immediately after the great tribulation ends with the sun plague, God turns out the lights of the universe plunging the earth into complete darkness, paving the way for the glorious light of Christ’s appearing (Isaiah 13:10, 50:3; Ezekiel 32:7-8; Joel 3:15-17; Amos 5:20; Zechariah 14:6-7; Matthew 24:29-30; Mark 13:24-25; Luke 21:27-28; Revelation 6:12-17, 16:10a)!

Popularized fantasy in the past fifty years by Western Christians and their media, the “secret rapture” sounds good but it is false! No doubt it will be heresies like the “secret rapture” through which not mass evacuation but defections from Christ unfold in the falling away shortly ahead (2 Peter 3:1-4). Truly, when already weak and nominal professing Western Christians that have believed the “secret rapture” heresy see that they remain on the earth while their increasingly hostile secular nations begin violently persecuting and killing Christians as they are doing now in other parts of the world, they will fulfill the Lord’s prophecy and depart from Him (Matthew 24:9-10; Mark 13:12-13; Luke 21:16-19). But as it has been for millennia the faithful saints will be calling on the Lord in prayer!

How well received are the prayers of the saints on high? On a physically windless day known only to God; in the midst of the fervent prayers of His besieged saints troubled on every side by the persecution of a hate filled, antagonistic world, the Holy Wind of God will blow over His two-fold elect (Psalm 74, 85, 130; Isaiah 63:7-64:12; Acts 4:23-31, 16:20-26; Revelation 7:1-8). He will rest on remnant Jews marking them as set apart and belonging to God who in their mortal flesh will receive the Lord Jesus as the Messiah at His coming (Isaiah 1:9, 10:20-23; Jeremiah 30:1-11, 18-22, 31:1-14; Joel 2:28-32; Zechariah 13:7-9; Malachi 3:16-18; Romans 9:27-29). The Holy Spirit is given not to convert the elect remnant Jews, but to protect them until Christ’s appearing (Exodus 8:20-24; Ezekiel 9:1-6; Revelation 9:4, 12:1-6, 13-17), then they will be converted and serve Him in their mortal flesh (Zechariah 12:10-13:6; Romans 11:25-29).

While the unconverted, elect Jewish remnant with hearts like Simeon, Joseph, Mary and Anna of old are protected (Psalm 46; Luke 2:25-38), Christian saints enjoy a spiritual revival of a magnitude not seen since Pentecost as I discuss in The Strong Man Of God (Acts 2:1-4). Sealed already by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14), this is their spiritual preparation for all that is to follow through the Second Coming of Christ. In the strength of this revival, the faith driven prayers of the saints on earth coalesce before God to move His hand (Exodus 2:23-25, 3:7; Psalm 18:1-19, 34:15-22, 119:126, 141:1-2; Matthew 6:9-13; Revelation 8:1-6) to some never before seen displays of His mighty power in warning judgments (John 12:28-31; Revelation 8:7-11:14, 15-16:1-12) then finally, the full out pouring of His wrath upon the whole earth (Revelation 11:15-19, 16:17-21). The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, “Who is on the Lord's side?”

Tagged With: The saint's prayers are honored by God

The Prayers Of The Saints, Pt. 1

On March 16, 2014 in Bible Prophecy by Robert Kelley

An amazing thing has happened at times in history when God’s people have come under persecution or painful adversity. Rather than being entirely destroyed and diminished in strength, a faithful remnant endures--though captive, on the run, in hiding or underground--and becomes even stronger in faith, spiritual fervency and power (Daniel 1; Acts 4:1-31, 5:17-42, 7:59-8:8, 14:19-28). Surely, this has everything to do with faith in and devotion to the living God, His affirming presence and power at work in the lives of His faithful saints; aspiring strong men and great women of God in the image of Jesus Christ who was sent to suffer and die for us (Romans 5:6-8, 8:31-34)!

To say that God never puts His adopted sons in harm’s way is a recent Western invention of convenience and corruption of Scripture (Philippians 1:27-30). The Lord Jesus stood in Heaven watching Stephen being stoned to death and did not move to deliver him. Stephen in full acceptance of the Lord’s will for his death uttered, ‘“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,’” and ‘“Lord, do not charge them with this sin,’” then he died (Acts 7:55-60, NKJV). Thereafter, in full view of God, “a great persecution arose against the church” at Jerusalem and all but the apostles were scattered. Those that scattered did not abandon Christ, but continued in their assigned mission as they went (Acts 8:1-5, NKJV).

From those days until now, persecuted saints continue to serve God and are faithful to His cause in spite of the risks involved. In every generation they have earnestly prayed for God’s provision and deliverance where needed while working and waiting for Christ to return. In His sovereign will, God has responded to their prayers with great deliverance that they might remain for a time on the earth or He has brought them to Himself in glory with tender love (Psalm 116). For example, the apostle James was killed by Herod, but Peter was providentially kept from death then released from prison by an angel while the saints were praying for him (Acts 12:1-17).

Among the foretold continuing troubles on the earth until the Lord returns is the martyrdom of His saints (Revelation 6:1-11). This is the biblically affirmed reality of the war between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. I do not say this casually and without emotional regard for our comrades in spiritual arms that fall (and are falling). We grieve for our brethren as did Christ for John the Baptist and the men who buried Stephen (Matthew 11:7-15, 14:1-13a; Acts 8:2). However, this grief is not supposed to make us turn away from the truth that our God has permitted Satan’s warfare against Him to include the painful persecution and martyrdom of His saints (Acts 9:1-5).

Western Christian incredulity toward the prospect of hate-filled, violent persecution and martyrdom for the faith which continues to escalate across the earth as Satan’s main weapon against the saints is propped up by arrogance, pride, weakness in faith, worldliness, apathy, complacency and another of the many corrupt, European originated, post-Reformation theologies: “the secret rapture.” With barely healed scars on their backs from suffering fully supported by such corrupt theologies coming from similar sources, sadly, even many black Americans and others of color have also bought into this heresy and wait for a secret evacuation from foretold suffering for Christ.

This “secret rapture” emerged and began taking root in the first half of the 19^th century¹ while faithful Christians were suffering excruciatingly painful tribulation and being made martyrs--who all since Stephen could have used an evacuation--as missionaries and indigenous peoples in non-Western lands and imperial possessions, prophets and abolitionists in Europe and the Americas as well as among my Christian slave forefathers. To this hour, Christians painfully suffer and die for the faith in various non-Western nations of the earth in greater numbers this past century than ever before in history according to monitoring organizations.² Are these Christians insignificant to God?

Why in nearly two thousand years has our merciful God not evacuated His saints en masse from suffering and martyrdom which intensifies and makes up a major part of the coming great tribulation during the time of the Antichrist? Because He never promises to do so anywhere in the New Testament! In fact, Christ bids those that would follow Him to come prepared to die (Luke 9:18-26, 14:25-27)! God only promises to save us from the final, cataclysmic, full out pouring of His wrath upon the earth to attend the one Second Coming of our Lord in accord with biblical precedent (Genesis 6:5-22, 18:16-19:29; Isaiah 13:6-9,11-13; Matthew 3:1-12, 4:12-17; Luke 17:20-37; John 3:36; Romans 5:9; Ephesians 5:5-6, 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, 5:9; Revelation 16:12-21, 19:11-21).

1 Type “The Rapture” into your preferred search engine for any number of articles discussing its origins in which proponents cannot deny Margret McDonald of Scotland and Plymouth
Brethren founder and theologian John Darby are associated as initiators in 1830.

2 Visit ERLC.Com. Also, check out the following organizations for current information about Christian persecution around the globe: Voice Of The Martyrs and
Open Doors USA (no relation to our Ministry).

Tagged With: The saints pray through it all!

Strong Man Of God Blog

Robert Kelley's weekly instruction, observations and reflections inspired by the Lord posted each Sunday night.

Search

Categories

Archives