DARKNESS DESCENDING AND THE IMMINENT RETURN OF CHRIST: DEFENDING THE DOCTRINE OF THE PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE

“Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.  As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.  Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it? (Amos 5:18-20).“

“A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations” (Joel 2:2).

Christ’s return is still imminent.  This article is only a brief sampling of the many New Testament verses in support of Christ’s most basic promise, to come for the church before the seven years of global judgment, the Tribulation, strikes the earth.  “I will come again and receive you unto myself” (John 14:3).  Later in this article, I will share with you the reader a dramatic sign that my wife was a personal witness of that would indicate that the Rapture and the much spoken of biblical time of judgment known as the Tribulation period are quickly approaching events soon to occur.  It is a sign that she, a skeptic and still a skeptic, first saw with her own two eyes and very fortunately captured on camera. The photo is quite dramatic and telling of the times in which we are currently living in for those with the correct discernment.  It is a time of storm clouds on the horizon, a time of descending darkness.

It may seem rather ludicrous to many, especially non-believers, that according to Bible prophecy, the sudden and instantaneous mass disappearance of millions of people around the world will occur instantly with no sudden warning in an event known as the rapture. But that is precisely the exact scenario that the divinely inspired scripture that we call the Bible reveals. It is an event that will happen suddenly and instantaneously as these people ascend into Heaven. Scripture is also clear that the only people who will be a part of this staggering event are those who are “born again” in Christ. For those who do not fall into this category, they have the dreaded future of enduring the horror of the seven-year period of judgment that will befall the earth as they are left behind at the moment this mind-numbing event occurs. For more information about how you can be sure to be numbered among those who go in the rapture, be sure to read the section at the end of this article titled “THE RAPTURE AND YOUR ESCAPE FROM THE COMING JUDGMENT.”

For those left behind, a horrendous period of seven years of global judgment called the “Tribulation” will strike the earth. The book of Joel refers to it as the “Day of the Lord.” The Tribulation will be seven years of horror and upheaval unlike anything the world has ever experienced before. In this article, I’ll discuss some of the details of the reasons why the rapture must occur in a period of time before the Tribulation begins.

People of faith can often be heard saying that the return of Christ is at least five to eight years away. It seems that this sentiment is being uttered more and more often these days. Usually, it’s stated in the context of what is ahead in Bible prophecy by someone with a list of events or a time period that must be fulfilled before Jesus can return to catch away the body of “born again” believers also called the “church.” An important side note that needs to be mentioned here is that this term “church” means something much deeper than just someone sitting in a pew in a building with church services on Sunday. According to the words of Jesus and the Apostles of scripture, the church is comprised of “born again” believers – the requirement of being a part of the church, or family of God. There are many people who sit in a church building either on a regular basis or every once in awhile, but are not truly “born again.”  In fact, one can be “born again” and not ever go to a church at all. But moving on, more specifically, he’ll be telling you that you’re headed into the Great Tribulation. Have you ever had the experience of thinking (perhaps with a sinking feeling) that maybe he might just be right?  If so, you’re not alone.  Your studies have told you that this horrendous and dreadful period is not merely the future World War 3.  Nor is it simply earthquakes, famines and or pestilence.  No, these trials have been experienced by the church’s faithful for nearly two millennia.  The tribulation is more than that.  Jesus said,

“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matthew 24:21). 

That’s quite a statement.  Planet Earth has witnessed some pretty devastating cataclysms, including the great flood of Noah’s day.  Yet, the Tribulation will be worse than all former catastrophes.  Furthermore, it will be a time when the natural physical order is suspended, as demons swarm forth to torment humanity.  Evil signs and wonders will abound.  A third of the dry land will be destroyed.  A third of the sea water will be destroyed, as well as a third of the fresh water.  Mountains and islands will disappear in a paroxysm of tectonic activity.  Millions will die.  The sun will be darkened.  Meteorites and hailstones of incredible size will bombard the planet, along with what appears to be an asteroid the size of a mountain.  These are only the opening horrific and devastating assaults of the Tribulation.

The second half, called the “Great” Tribulation, is yet to come.  It is much, much worse.  To add insult to injury, before all of this, the Antichrist will be in charge of global politics.  You may be told that the church will in some way be protected from the effects of all of these onslaughts.  But that doesn’t seem to be much of a consolation.  You say to yourself, “I’m going through all of that?”  You know the answer is a loud, clear and definite “No,” I’m not!”  Still, you want to be absolutely sure.  But no matter how long you study Bible prophecy – no matter what scriptural authority you accept, there always remains a small window of doubt.  We can’t possibly know everything about the prophetic sequence of events.  In fact, God has carefully arranged things so that it is simply impossible to formulate the last days chronology with absolute certainty.  The times and seasons are fully within our grasp to be sure.  But the final arrangement of prophesied events in the timeline of the Church Age has been purposely concealed.  Our walk in the Lord is by faith, not by sight.  So, when an authority comes along with a pamphlet, book or tape “positively proving” that the church (born again believers) will go through all or part of the Tribulation period, you are inclined to check it out.  You think to yourself that maybe this time, you’ll see something new; something that will change your mind.  You then find yourself blown back and forth by various prophetic winds.  Your once-solid faith may be less than solid from time to time.  After all, it’s good to be open to new ideas, isn’t it?  Yes, of course, but it’s also good to be firm in the sound doctrine of the New Testament.  That doctrine – from the very first years of Jesus, his disciples and Apostles – has been characterized by words of comfort, consolation and hope.  From that day to this, the church (born again believers) has been urged to maintain an attitude of joyous expectancy in the hope of the Lord’s return – with no intervening prophetic fulfillment.  In his epistle to Titus, Paul put it quite clearly:

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). 

THE THESSALONIAN CHURCH

The time was about A.D. 50.  Paul, Silas and their faithful band departed Syrian Antioch and traveled westward through Asia Minor.  Through a vision, Paul was led to cross the Aegean Sea to Macedonia.  Then, the group journeyed southward from Philippi through Amphipolis, Thessalonica, and Berea to Athens and Corinth, where Paul resided for a time, preaching and writing.  During these travels, the Thessalonian believers apparently won a special place in his heart.  Though he was only among them for only a short time, they apparently grew quickly in the new faith.  First and Second Thessalonians are among Paul’s earliest recorded letters, having been sent in about A.D. 51.  Remarkably, they deal with the subject of steadfast faith and growth of Christian love in the light of Christ’s return.  When did Paul tell them that Christ might return?  At any moment:

“To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints” (1 Thessalonians 3:13).

Paul wrote to the then-living saints of Thessalonica.  He wanted them to exhibit Godly lives in the encouragement that the Lord would return with his saints.  He then went on to explain just what he meant.  In 1 Thessalonians 4:13 and the verses following,  Paul answers what must have become a nagging question that had developed in their minds since his sojourn with them.  Perhaps some of their friends or relatives had died since he left for Corinth.  They were apparently anxious to know what would become of those who died before the Lord’s return.  Answering an earlier letter, Paul tells them,

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

These were words intended to be a comfort.  Paul’s words to the Thessalonians have stretched out across the centuries, providing each succeeding generation the same promise that was given to these faithful saints.  But wait, there’s a message here.  Paul directed his answer to these Greek believers on the basis that they personally would be the recipients of the “catching away” of the church.  The Thessalonians apparently were so sure of Christ’s soon return that they didn’t even expect that any of their friends and

relatives to die before he came back.  He reassures them that this would be no problem.  In the fifth chapter of the epistle, verses 1 and 2, he also seems to be answering a query

about the exact timing of the rapture:

“But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.  For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-2).

Paul here addresses the Thessalonians with second-person pronouns, telling  him that his own doctrine is sufficient for their own discernment.  During his visit, he had apparently already explained the “day of the Lord” to them.  But in the next verse, he changes pronouns, suddenly shifting to the third-person plural:

“For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” (verse 3).

Again, the message is clear.  Destruction is reserved for “them” – the unsaved who are destined for judgment, not us – the redeemed.  From that day until this, the message hasn’t changed.  In chapter 5, verse 9 Paul concludes his thought.

“For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ” (verse 9).

What a curious thing for Paul to say.  His letter is addressed to the redeemed – the recipients of the Lord’s justifying grace, who already possess salvation.  But he writes that they will yet “obtain salvation,” in the future sense.  Obviously, this is the physical salvation that comes at the time the church (body of born again believers on earth) is caught away prior to the “wrath” to come.  And about that wrath – some argue that it doesn’t come until the second half of the Tribulation.  Yet in the first half of that period (in the time of the sixth seal) the unredeemed cry out to the mountains, saying “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb” (Revelation 6:16).  Paul closes 1 Thessalonians by praying that the Thessalonians might “be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  He says nothing about any intervening event.  He leads them to believe that Jesus might come in their lifetimes.  His second letter to the Thessalonians centers around a warning.  False teachers had apparently tried to convince them that the day of Christ (the Day of the Lord – the Tribulation) was imminent, and by inference, that they would have to go through it:

“Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,  That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2).

Note that the focus of his warning – and of the entire letter – is “our gathering together unto him,” that is, the catching away of the church.  He wanted them to know that the Tribulation was not imminent.  The significance of his statement is just as clear to us today as it was to the Thessalonians.  Namely, the Tribulation will not come until after the Antichrist has been received by the world auspices of a great spiritual falling away, or apostasy.

“Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:” … (2 Thessalonians 2:9-11).

Once again, Paul uses the third-person plural pronouns “them” and “they” to indicate the unredeemed or unsaved who will go through the horror of the Tribulation.  In both letters to the Thessalonians, his message is one of comfort and reassurance.  He is not warning them that they’ll go through the Tribulation.  Quite the contrary, he tells them to live in the expectation of Christ’s coming.  And if it was true for them, how much more so for us?

JESUS’ OWN TEACHING

In Luke 21:35-36, Jesus taught that the Tribulation would take many by surprise:

“For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man” (Luke 21:35-36).

The closing words of his teaching on the last days shows the same basic wording as Paul’s epistles to the Thessalonians.  His clear language to his disciples is that escape from the day of wrath is possible – even a certainty – to the redeemed.  Furthermore, he gave them no indication that this event lay in the far future.  It was related with an immediacy that could clearly apply to those alive to hear Jesus’ own words.

IMMINENCY, NOT IMMEDIACY

When something is poised on the verge of happening, it is said to be “imminent.”  One knows that an event is going to happen because one has been given reasons why it’s completion is possible at any moment.  For example, a friend has told you that he’ll pick you up in his car at a certain place at 2 p.m. in the afternoon.  You agree to wait there at the appointed time.  Now, people being what they are, you won’t be the least bit surprised if he is a little early or a little late.  Your agreement to wait doesn’t depend upon his arrival at the exact stroke of 2 p.m.  So, you patiently and faithfully wait.  As you stand there, the moment comes and goes, because you know your friend to be responsible and dependable.  At ten after two, you are still watchfully waiting.  Perhaps you are noticed by people in the neighborhood.  From your posture, your occasional glances in the direction from which your friend is to come and at your watch, they know that you are waiting for something – someone.  Maybe they’ll try to warn you that your friend has stood you up.  Doubts may enter your mind.  But as quickly as they come, you dismiss them, for you have faith in your friend.  You know that he will come.  The precise timing of his arrival is subject to unforseeable variables.  He will come.

A PRINCIPLE

And so it is with faithful Christians.  They watchfully await for the return of Christ.  And so it has been for roughly 2,000 years, give or take.  Imminent does not mean immediate.  But it does mean “possibly in the next moment.”  The belief that we may go into the Tribulation discredits the longstanding Christian position of watchful waiting.  There is a principle here.  The Lord wanted each succeeding generation to have the same attitude of watchful waiting that the early disciples had.  By his Holy Spirit, he arranged the information in the Bible to give the entire church – the body of born again believers from Pentecost to the Rapture – that same hopeful expectancy.  If you love the idea that Jesus might appear in the next moment to take you home, you live in the realm of moment-by- moment expectancy.  Remember his closing words to Timothy:

“Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8).

In other words, there is a reward that will be given to the person who has faith in Christ’s imminent return.  Remember, rewards don’t come easily.  When the winds of alien teaching try to blow you down, stand upon the sound doctrine of the Apostles, who all taught under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that Jesus would come for his own before he judged the world.  As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 16:22 …

“If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema Maranatha.”

The term “Anathema” means “accursed.”  “Maranatha” is an Aramaic word that roughly translates to “The Lord is coming …,” or “Lord, come!”  This was the theme word of the early church, and it should also be ours.

THE RAPTURE IS A MYSTERY  

In 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, the apostle Paul, under the inspiration of God’s spirit, is teaching about the certainty of every believer’s resurrection from the dead.  He also reveals that the resurrection body will be magnificently and dramatically changed into an eternal immortal form that has real substance.  Paul clearly teaches that our new body will “bear the image of the heavenly,” that is, like Jesus Christ’s resurrected (verse 49).  In this regard, he says “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable” (verse 50).  In other words, our present body of flesh and blood, which must be sustained by elements of the earth which are perishable, must be changed to another form.  This new form has material being, but it is of a kind that is suited for the spiritual, imperishable and eternal atmosphere of Heaven.  The resurrected Christ is the measure of our future existence.  He could appear and disappear at will (Luke 24:31; John 20:19).  He could move through solid walls (John 20:19,26).  He could be seen and felt (Matthew 28:9); Luke 24:36-42).  He could eat food, though it wasn’t apparently necessary (Luke 24:41-43).  Though glorified, Jesus could be recognized (Luke 24:30-31). 

Our resurrected bodies will no longer experience death, aging, crying, mourning, sorrow or pain (Revelation 21:4).  These are just a few of the wonders that we believers (born again) will experience in our future resurrected bodies.  One thing, however, is necessary to be resurrected:  We must first die!  Resurrection is only for the dead.  Resurrection from the dead was certainly a hope clearly taught in the Old Testament.  In the midst of Paul’s teaching on the resurrection he says,

“behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51).

There are many important truths taught in this verse.  First, Paul says he is introducing a mystery.  The moment Paul uses the word “mystery,” it signals that he is going to reveal a new truth not known before.  The word in the original Greek (mysterion), as used in the New Testament, means something not previously known, but now revealed to the true believer (born again).  So what is it that is new?  In this chapter, he has summed up what was known in the Old Testament:  that flesh and blood cannot enter God’s presence; that we must first die, and then be raised in a new eternal form.

THE RAPTURE MEANS NO DEATH  

The second truth in this verse, and the meaning of the mystery, is that we “born again” Christians are not all going to die!  This was a totally new concept.  No Old Testament believer ever dreamed that some future generation would enter eternity and God’s presence without experiencing physical death.  Death is an absolute prerequisite to entering immortality through resurrection.

There were two partial examples of the Rapture in the cases of Enoch and Elijah.  They were taken directly into Heaven without experiencing physical death.  As for the Old Testament believer in general, no one dared to believe that there would be a future generation of believers who would be taken en masse to God’s presence.  Often, I’ve seen rapture doubters make comments that state the fact that the Rapture event cannot be found in the Old Testament.  Although God chose to wait to reveal the revelation of the rapture to the apostle Paul, we can see where the rapture might be alluded to in the Old Testament narrative hidden in a code.

Using a computer, Israeli scientists and scholars over the past several years have found encoded messages within the text of the Old Testament that appear to tell names, dates and places of events which have come to pass in this generation. It is now a virtually proven scientific fact that these codes could not be there by chance but are of supernatural origin. This being the case, it becomes glaringly obvious even to the casual observer that there is only one source where these codes could have come from. The evidence points directly to God himself. With this in mind, the late Bible codes researcher Yacov Rambsel has discovered seventeen amazing codes in seventeen letter intervals from the last eight verses in the first chapter of the book of Genesis , including a code that points to a pre-tribulation rapture of the church. It is most interesting that Yacov had discovered the word “rapture” in a portion of Old Testament scripture from Isaiah 26:19-21 that describes a future resurrection of the dead who dwell in the dust as the earth casts out it’s righteous dead. For good measure, God encoded the word rapture in a most unique way in the Old Testament book of Malachi.

In this verse of scripture we read these interesting words …

“Then they that feared (reverenced) the LORD spake often one to another; and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared (reverenced) the LORD, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that

day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him (Malachi 3:16-17).

Clearly, God intends to spare us from going through the tribulation period as clearly pointed out in this scripture. There is great controversy over whether the rapture will occur before, during or after the coming seven years of judgment upon earth known in scripture as the Tribulation. The plain text of scripture does indeed make it clear that it will be before, but for good measure, we can see that God has also encoded the word rapture in some most peculiar portions of scripture to demonstrate a pre-tribulation rapture. The truly electrifying fact is that many of you who are reading this will experience this mystery.  You will never know what it is to die physically.

THE RAPTURE INCLUDES ALL – ALL REALLY DOES MEAN ALL

The third truth in this verse is that all believers at the same time of the Rapture will escape physical death.  It is not an accident that God selected the Corinthians to be the recipients of this revelation.  For all of the early churches that the New Testament records, the Corinthian church was the most carnal.  Paul rebukes them for everything from fornication (6:15-20) to getting drunk at communion (11:20-22).  Yet, Paul says to them, “We all will be changed.”  A famous Supreme Court decision defined the word “all” as follows:  “All includes everyone, and excludes no one.”  That is a very apt definition for how many believers (born again) will go at the Rapture.  Some will regretfully be raptured while out of fellowship with God.  This may result in a loss of rewards for service, but not participation in the Rapture.  This fact is based on the same foundation upon which salvation itself is based.  It is “by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is a gift of God” (See 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 and Ephesians 2:8-9).  There is no scriptural basis for a partial Rapture.  The Rapture must be based on the same principles as salvation is.

THE RAPTURE IS INSTANTANEOUS 

Paul says, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed” 1 Corinthians 15:52).  Someone said that the twinkling of an eye is about one-thousandth of a second.  The Greek word is atomos from which we get the word atom.  It means something that cannot be divided.  In other words, the Rapture will occur so quickly and suddenly that the time frame in which it occurs cannot be humanly divided.  In the flash of a second, every living believer (born again) on earth will be gone.  Suddenly, without warning, only unbelievers (not born again) will be populating planet Earth.  In another crucial passage on the Rapture, God reveals to us what will occur while we are being instantaneously transformed into immortal bodies …

“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18).

The apostle Paul wrote these words under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to reassure the Thessalonians who had believing loved ones who had died.  They were afraid that their departed loved ones would be in some other part of God’s plan.  Therefore, they feared that those who were raptured would not see their loved ones again in eternity.  Paul’s answer is as amazing as it is comforting.  For he assures them that not only will we see again Christian loved ones who have died, but that they will receive their resurrection bodies a split second before we are transformed into immortality.  The key word is “we shall be caught up.”  This is the translation of the Greek verb “harpazo.”  As mentioned earlier, it literally means “to snatch out” or “to seize.”  When we put together the concept of “being caught up into the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” together with the idea of an instantaneous transformation, the result is spine-tingling.  We will suddenly one day just blast off into space and beyond.  It will be faster than the eye of the unbeliever (people who are not born again that get left behind on earth) can perceive.  Every living believer on Earth will disappear.  The world may hear a great sonic boom from all our transformed immortal bodies cracking the sound barrier, but the rest will be a mystery.  As for us, one moment we will be going about our life here on earth; the next moment we will be hurtled into the presence of departed loved ones.  And above all, we will have a face-to-face meeting with the one whose death in our place made it all happen.

Another very intriguing experience is predicted in 1 Thessalonians.  The apostle Paul reveals that we will not only be reunited with all of our Christian relatives and loved ones, but with all those persons who trusted in Jesus (personally received him while on earth resulting in salvation of the soul) through our witness.  He said of those Thessalonians to whom he had ministered …

“For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?” (1 Thessalonians 2:19)

Paul says that these spiritual converts of his will be “his crown of exultation in the Lord’s presence when he comes.”  From this, it appears that each one of us will have grouped around us those whom we have helped to believe in Jesus and received him for the salvation of their souls.  This should spur all born again, saved Christians to redouble their efforts to witness for Christ.  The destiny of eternal souls are at stake.  We will be greatly rewarded by God himself for doing so.

THE BIG, GIANT, FILTHY, FOUL, ODOROUS, VILE, ABHORRENT CATACLYSMIC IRENAEUS STINK BOMB

Contrary to the popular notion of rapture doubters that the rapture was an invention by John Nelson Darby in the 1800s, the clear documentation of history says otherwise.  The Rapture was not made up by John Darby or anyone else in the 1800s. When one performs the simple task of a little digging and research into history of where the doctrine of the rapture can be found outside of the divinely inspired biblical text itself, one will quickly discover that the rapture was not an invention of the Roman Catholic Church or anyone else in the 1800s.  Indisputable evidence confirms that this biblical doctrine traces back to a man named Irenaeus.  Irenaeus gets it from John the Apostle himself. Irenaeus (130 A.D. – 202 AD) was a bishop of the church in Lyons, France. Irenaeus himself could easily trace his message to the apostle John, whose student Polycarp was Irenaeus’ teacher and a disciple of Polycarp. In fact, Polycarp was the first of the Apostle John’s disciples.  Irenaeus is most known for his five-volume treatise, “Against Heresies” in which he exposed the false religions and cults of his day along with advice for how to share the Gospel with those who were a part of them. Irenaeus describes the church leaving the sinful world just before unprecedented disasters. Note his use of the term “caught up” which is Rapture terminology as that is the meaning of the word “harpazo,” the term for “caught up” in the King James Bible describing the Rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4. He then quotes Matthew 24:21 where Jesus Christ says:

“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”

And it is during this time that those who convert to Christianity during the final years will receive the incorruptible crown mentioned by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:25. In Irenaeus’ belief, the Rapture took place prior to the end times Great Tribulation. Again, this is Irenaeus, the cat who was a student of Polycarp, who was a disciple of the Apostle John himself – the Apostle who wrote the book of Revelation.  Irenaeus is a big, giant, filthy, foul, odorous, vile, abhorrent cataclysmic stink bomb to the rapture doubters, mid-tribulationists (the view that the rapture occurs in the middle of the Tribulation), the post Tribulationists (the view that the rapture occurs at the end of the Tribulation) and the Preterists.

Cyprian (200 AD – 258 AD) – Cyprian was Bishop of the church in Carthage. During his short stint as leader of the church, he guided the flock through intense persecution at the hands of the Roman Empire. In 258 AD after spending seven months of confinement to his home by order of Roman authorities, he was beheaded for his faith. Several of his works still exist today. In Treatises of Cyprian he wrote in describing the end times Great Tribulation:

“We who see that terrible things have begun, and know that still more terrible things are imminent, may regard it as the greatest advantage to depart from it as quickly as possible. Do you not give God thanks, do you not congratulate yourself, that by an early departure you are taken away, and delivered from the shipwrecks and disasters that are imminent? Let us greet the day which assigns each of us to his own home, which snatches us hence, and sets us free from the snares of the world and restores us to paradise and the kingdom.”

Again we see use of language commonly found in reference to the Rapture as Cyprian describes the judgments of the end times as “imminent.” And he makes his belief on the timing of the Rapture when he wrote that Christians will have an “early departure” and be “delivered” from the devastating global judgments that come during the Day of The Lord. In line with the Apostle Paul who wrote that “God has not appointed us to wrath, but salvation..” Cyprian expressed joy and encourages the believing reader to rejoice that the Church will be “taken away” before the disastrous Great Tribulation. Just as Jesus in Matthew 24 used the same language of one “taken away” and the other “left.” Additionally, Cyprian references the mansions which Christ promises to come back and take His believers to in John 14.

Simply put, many have bought into a bill of goods when they chose to believe the idea that the rapture was a man-made doctrine from the 1800s.  In fact, scripture promises a special reward or place in the coming Kingdom for those who “love his appearing” …

“Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8).

So, the lesson here that needs to be recognized and heeded is that one needs to be careful in passing forward the narrative that there will not be a pre-tribulation rapture. Not only is it evident that you yourself may lose reward, but will also cause others to lose a reward that will be given to those who look for/love his coming or appearing. Of course, this passage of scripture speaks to believers themselves. People outside the body of Christ have no hope of Heaven anyway unless they personally receive Christ and become a member of the “born again” body of believers. If that category describes you, I again urge you to be sure to pay special attention to the section at the end of this article titled “THE RAPTURE AND YOUR ESCAPE FROM THE COMING JUDGMENT.”

This won’t be a literal crown that one will wear on their head. This is symbolic of a reward that will enable a place of prominence and prestige in the coming 1,000 year kingdom reign of Christ on Earth and beyond.  It will begin after the Tribulation period ends.

A DRAMATIC SIGN OF HIS APPROACH:  ISLAMIC NO-GO ZONES GROWING IN EUROPE, AMERICA AND THE REST OF THE CIVILIZED WORLD

There is probably nothing more horrific to watch than what is unfolding in the civilized world, namely western countries in recent years.  In case one happens to have been living under a rock or in a cave somewhere (or watching the propaganda show in the mainstream media), Islam is rapidly destroying western civilization and it’s culture through the overwhelming migration policies of western nations.  Europe is a glaring and horrific case of this.  It has picked up steam just in the last few years or so.  The migration policies of western leaders is absolutely insane.  At this rate, it is projected by the renowned Pew Research Center that unless there are radical changes to the present policies toward immigration, 30.6% of the population in Sweden will be Islamic by the middle of the century.  These  growing Muslim populations are in the broader EU region (i.e. the 28 European Union member states plus Switzerland and Norway). Sweden is as good as finished. The horrifying numbers of this invasion are truly staggering.

The situation elsewhere is hardly better. It is 19.7% in Germany, 18% in France, 17.2 % in Britain, and 15.2% in the Netherlands. This is what Pew expects to happen if the migration patterns continue at the 2014-2016 levels. Pew also calculated what will happen if the current refugee crisis comes to an end but regular immigration continues at present level.  Under this scenario, the number of Muslims by 2050 is still bound to rise to 20.5% in Sweden, 17.4% in France, 16.7% in the UK, 12.5% in the Netherlands, and 10.8% in Germany.

The United States of America is not far behind European nations as we are experiencing practically the same thing, but not quite as bad as Europe yet, but we are getting there.  If Europe does not make a stand and soon, Europe’s Judeo-Christian civilization will be blown away.  A nightmare like Europeans thought would never occur will occur.  Many are already experiencing the horrors that Islam is bringing to their civilizations.  Rape of their women by these barbaric migrants is out of control.  Crime is out of control and the hostility that these Islamic populations are bringing to them is off the charts.

The rise of dozens of no-go zones, which dot the urban landscapes of Europe, are places that act as ethnic enclaves within their host countries. They are nations within nations, where outsiders are routinely shunned, berated, and beaten if they dare enter. In addition to that, they’ve become hotbeds of terrorism and civil unrest. And believe it or not, these Islamic no-go zones are beginning to show up in the United States.

That’s according to Raheem Kassam, a conservative political activist and author from the UK. He recently wrote a book on the subject of no-go zones, which reveals startling similarities between the Middle Eastern enclaves of Europe and America.  Places like the Cedar Riverside area of Minneapolis, where Shariah cops make house checks to make sure Somali refugees are not becoming too Westernized, and Hamtramck, Michigan,where the call to prayer is blasted over loudspeakers in Arabic and storefronts that once peddled Polish sausage are now brimming with halal meats. Kassam states;

“These can be the early warning signs of a budding no-go zone.”

But even more crucial, he says, is the level of assimilation by second and third generation Muslim “Americans.” If the experience of Europe is any indication, trouble is on the horizon for U.S. cities.  Of course, America has always had neighborhoods that were predominantly inhabited by various immigrant groups. But over time those immigrants still assimilated. That’s not what we’re seeing in America’s Muslim neighborhoods. Kassam further sates:

“But you look at the Muslim immigrants and they’re not doing that, they’re actually further ghettoizing, they’re moving inward, not outward.”

Polls by Pew Research show a higher proportion of young Muslims backing terrorism, supporting death for apostasy [leaving Islam], death for homosexuals, and the idea that the woman must cover herself with the hijab or the burqa.  So it’s the opposite trend of Little Italy becoming less like Italy and more like America.  “You see a higher disposition than their parents who believe these things,” Kassam said. “They’re holding onto this Muslim-American sort of thing, and they’re being supported by the political left.”  Kassam includes a whole chapter on Hamtramck, which in 2015 became the first U.S. city to elect a majority-Muslim city council. Several years before that, in 2011, the city approved the Muslim call to prayer over loudspeakers, effectively chasing away many of the last Polish holdouts.

What’s happening in Europe right now should stand as a warning to Americans.  The globalists who run the west behind the scenes are pushing their immigration policies of destruction on us for the utter destruction of Western civilization.  This article could easily turn into twenty pages of horror that Islam is bringing to the world, but suffice it to say, the horror of Islam is rapidly spreading and threatens to bring the world to it’s knees.  So, how is this a biblical sign of the event of the rapture for the church?   

“The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, and broken the everlasting covenant; Therefore has the curse (curse means Allah in Hebrew) devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left” (Isaiah 24: 5-6).

It is interesting to note that when one does a Hebraic word study of the meaning of this word “curse,” one will find that it means “Allah.”

The “Allah”, or curse, is spreading forth upon the earth in these end times.  One look at the horror show transpiring in Europe and now America regarding the invasion of the Islamic hoards, one has no choice but to come to the easy conclusion that Allah will continue to be God’s curse upon the earth in these last days … and it is a curse that is not going away.  It is here to stay.

The aforementioned passage of Isaiah 24 above is a description of the approaching Tribulation period and all of it’s horrific events that will explode upon an unsuspecting world.  A closer look at this passage of scripture will reveal some bizarre, yet horrific events that are prophesied to unfold during the Great Tribulation such as the “earth turning upside down” (verse 1) and the earth being “moved exceedingly” (verse 19).  It is a rather interesting observation that the curse, or “Allah,” should be associated with these physically disastrous and horror-filled depictions of what happens to Planet Earth as revealed in this passage of scripture.  The earth “turning upside down” seems to be describing a literal pole shift.  One could possibly make the argument that this is not literal, but turned upside down in the sense of just utter chaos.  It would be like saying that your child’s room is “turned upside down” for being a complete mess.  But, that is not exactly what is being conveyed here in light of verses 18-23.

 “… for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.  The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.  The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.  And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.  Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously” (Isaiah 24:18-23).

The word “therefore” in verse 6 is the key word that links the cause of the spread of the curse to the curse itself.

– The problem (cause)  … “because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, and broken the everlasting covenant;  …” (verse 5) 

– The result … “Therefore has the curse (curse means Allah in Hebrew) devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left” (verse 6).

From the reading of the text, it is clear that Islam is going to be a horrible and global curse prevailing upon the Earth at the time of the Great Tribulation. Furthermore, it will trigger a reaction from God that will “turn the earth upside down,” cause it to “reel to and fro like a drunkard,” be “moved exceedingly” and be “removed like a cottage.”  Upon observation of this particular portion of scripture, it seems clear that there is a massive outside influence causing the Earth to undergo such horrific and dramatic changes, an influence that God himself has orchestrated and set into motion since from the beginning of time until the point in time when the curse of Allah will engulf the earth as a result of earth’s inhabitants “breaking the everlasting covenant.”  This period of time could be nothing else than the biblical “Great Tribulation.”  Could this destructive influence be the result of what has gotten much attention in recent years regarding Planet X?

In case you have been living under a rock or just not paying attention, there is much talk (and evidence) to support the hypothesis that there is a massive planetary system that is heading our way and will cause much destruction to Earth as it passes by.  In fact, there seems to be evidence that this is a story that has been covered up and not allowed to see the light of day, although it has gotten some mention in news sources in years past.  In a nutshell (and scientifically speaking), such an event would cause a massive gravitational pull upon the Earth to the point that it will cause a pole shift to occur, thus causing massive earthquakes like the world has never known, weather to become extremely destructive and cause massive carnage of all types to the detriment of life on earth.  If history is any indicator, there seems to be massive evidence of the existence of this planetary system.  It is a system that is said to have multiple accompanying moons traveling and orbiting around it.  Interestingly, it is also said that this planetary system was the actual cause of Noah’s flood and many other destructions of the past, such as the 10 plagues of Egypt.  History has seemingly well documented this system and it’s effects upon the Earth as it passed.

Much of this information can easily be researched, but suffice it to say, the evidence seems to be in favor of this approaching cataclysm from outer space called the Planet X system and will be the catalyst for the judgments found in biblical scripture, such as Isaiah 24 and Revelation 6.  In fact, Isaiah 24 and Revelation 6 seem to be describing the very same event.  In Revelation 6, we read suspiciously similar judgments found in Isaiah 24.  In Revelation 6 we read the following …

“And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:  And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?  And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.  And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;  And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.  And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.  And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” (Revelation 6:9-17)

It is massively interesting that Isaiah 24 seems to be linking this horrific pole shift to the appearance of the curse of Islam that is now beginning to engulf the earth, and even more interestingly, verses 9-19 of Revelation 6 seem to be describing the very same curse of Islam upon the earth as does Isaiah 24.  Verses 9-10 of Revelation 6 seem to be describing Christians (who get saved during the Tribulation) being slaughtered as a result of the witness of Christ.  There is only one religion or ideology in the world that does this, and that ideology is none other than Islam.  Is Islam’s sudden spread on the earth a major harbinger or sign that the Planet X system is soon to make it’s pass by earth, thus triggering the judgments of Revelation 6 and Isaiah 24?  The biblical evidence seems to be very overwhelming that it is.

Summary of this section:   It looks very suspicious that because the entire world is beginning to fall under this “Allah”, or curse, the earth itself will come under a severe judgment as a result of a horrific pole shift caused by an approaching and massively huge planetary system with it’s own orbiting moons and other celestial bodies, dragging with it a very large debris trail.  God has timed this approaching planet and it’s entire system of moons, etc. to coincide with the “Allah”, or curse, that has devoured the planet.

SHADES OF REVELATION 6:  THE VISIBLE SIGNS OF THE APPROACH OF PLANET X 

There are many who say that the unusually extreme and bizarre weather that we have been experiencing in recent years has to do with the approach of the Planet X system.  I am inclined to believe that, although many times it is hard to know whether or not much of it is a result of man-caused deliberate manipulation through not-so-secret technologies such as HAARP and other devices that the elite may possess.  I would hazard a guess and say that much of the HAARP created weather conditions are covering up and mixing in with the weather effects of the approaching Planet X system.  It is often hard to guage in one’s mind, but I would have to say that it is likely both.  We are also hearing about certain scientists that are also coming to the conclusion that there is an outside “force” that is interfering with the natural orbit and function of all of the other planets in our solar system, such as various planets tilting out of their normal positions.  Some of these scientists actually turn up dead under suspicious circumstances.

Then there are many videos on youtube that claim to show real pictures of Planet X and it’s accompanying moons, many of which are no doubt faked.  But many of them simply cannot be explained seemingly.  With modern computer technology and the tendency for many people to be dishonest for personal financial gain through youtube clicks, much of these videos and photos inevitably cannot be believed.  But it is near inconceivable that every single one of them are faked.  Clearly, it would seem that people are catching glimpses and views of other objects in the sky.

One such person would be my wife.  In the month of October, 2017, she was taking her usual early morning walk in the park near where we live in Colorado when she spotted something very unusual in the sky, an object that had the appearance of a moon to the left of the sun.  She then pointed her cell phone camera toward the sight and snapped a picture (see her photo below).

It obviously wasn’t our moon given that Earth’s moon had already gone down below the horizon much earlier and was obviously on the opposite side of the sky.  So, what was this object if it is obviously not Earth’s moon?  I think you can probably guess my obvious answer at this point … it is a very high probability that it is one of the Planet X orbiting moons beginning to make it’s appearance in our skies as this massive planetary system makes it’s way ever closer to our solar system.  I am willing to concede that just perhaps what you are looking at in the picture is a holographic image using the technology that we know the elite possess.  Much has been said about the fact that they intend to perpetrate a massive “alien invasion” hoax on the clueless masses to further along their agenda of a New World Order.  Much has been said about Project Blue Beam. So, is holographic technology responsible for what you are looking at in the picture above? Quite possibly, but unlikely.  I am also willing to concede to the possibility that it is somehow a reflection of the sun in the thin layering of hazy cloud cover or chemtrailing. I’m not much of an expert in the physics and mechanics of light refraction, but it would be possible the thin layering of chemtrailing may be acting as the screen onto which the sun’s image is being projected.  But my gut feeling is that this is simply not the case given the amazing evidence that is emerging as can be seen in the video series at the end of this article.

If neither of these two aforementioned explanations are correct, then Houston, we have a problem.  It would be a clear sign that the Tribulation is fast approaching and that the world as we know it is running out of time.  Even if Planet X is nothing more than some kind of hoax or globalist elite planted psyop (history would seem to indicate otherwise though), it still cannot be refuted that there is an outside force that is fixing to open up a tall, cold, bitter, vile, stinky, putrid can of destruction on planet Earth just based on Isaiah 24 and Revelation 6.  This simply cannot be ignored.  At present, the Planet X narrative is the best evidenced mechanism for the fulfillment of these two powerful prophetic scriptures.

In the picture below, which I thought was irretrievably lost and gone forever after I accidently erased it from my phone (or so I thought), I managed to capture what looks to be a second moon in our skies while walking down the sidewalk here in Denver, Colorado near where I live.  This picture was captured months before my wife captured hers in the first picture above.  This particular picture was captured on my old Samsung galaxy light camera phone.  Important to note here is the fact that I double-checked to see if our moon (Earth’s moon) was behind me, and indeed, it was.  It was in the complete opposite direction of this moon.  In my haste to capture this object before it disappeared behind the layering of chemtrails starting to menace the sky, I unfortunately neglected to turn the video recorder on and pan around to the opposite position in the sky to capture the moon behind me (Earth’s moon) to show that this object was not Earth’s moon.  This moon also appeared further away in space than Earth’s moon.

Also important to note is the fact that while looking at this object with the naked eyes, it was much clearer and more defined than what you see in the photo.  But even still, the photo came out clear enough so that one can most certainly see that a round, solid object is there.

A third important thing to note is the fact that, initially, I stared at the object to make certain that it was not just a round shape that randomly appeared in the chemtrail pattern as the chemtrail clouding drifted across the sky.  While watching the chemtrails drift, I noticed that the round solid-looking object did not drift and lose shape along with the chemtrails.  It stayed in the same position while the chemtrails moved, showing that it was not a part of the chemtrail pattern.  When initially viewed with my naked eyes before I even snapped the photo with my phone, it was even less obscured by the chemtrails than what is seen in the photo.  Furthermore, if I had snapped the photo right then, it would have been even more clearly defined.  If one looks close to their screen, you can indeed still see that the round outline of the object is even crisper and not a chemtrail blob.  Having read and studied much concerning the history and the recent Planet X system information available, I knew immediately exactly what it was that I may be looking at.  Quite possibly, what you are looking at in this photo, just like in my wife’s photo above, is one of the Planet X orbiting moons as this system makes it’s way ever closer to our planet.

In a November 12, 2017, interview with Marshall Masters of Yowusa.com, the late Lana of Tucson, Arizona discusses seven of her Planet X observations beginning with December 6, 2016, through November 1, 2017. Not only did Lana begin consistently tracking an object of interest at approximately one o’clock relative to the Sun, her videos show a consistent pattern across a wide variety of times and viewing conditions. Later in the series, she also began observing what may appear to be a moon in orbit around the object of interest. In his review of her videos, Marshall finds direct evidence to counter common debunking claims that these are solar flares. He also debunks the finger over the sun test that debunkers favor as a sucker-bait that sets people up to fail.

Over the course of three consecutive days, the 8th, 9th, and 10th of September 2017, Amber Williamson of Clarksburg, West Virginia took video footage of the Nibiru/Planet X system at the sun’s 11 o’clock position relative to the horizon. Her observations with an iPhone 7 smartphone were conducted near sunset on each of the three days. In the four videos shown in this report, the object is consistent. The fact that she first observed Nibiru with her own eyes before shooting a corroborating video on the 8th establishes a firm foundation of credibility for her observations. In her video reports, one video for the 8th, one for the 9th and two for the 10th is shown as part of two interviews of Amber by Marshall Masters of yowusa.com on the 9th and the 11th.  In the fifth of seven installments of the “Planet X/Nibiru Has Arrived” video series, she presented three observation videos. The observations in this video were videographed in December 2017 and January 2018. All three of Amber’s observation videos confirm and correlate with objects seen in the sky by countless eyewitnesses in London, UK on November 16, 2017. Also presented in this video are still images of corroborating observations by Steve Dix in Flagstaff, AZ and Philip Sinclair in Somerset, Massachusetts.  All seven parts of this amazing and very revealing interview series are complete with very compelling  smoking gun evidence.  This video series can be seen at the end of this article.

For those who are safe in Christ and “born again” (see videos above in the beginning of this article), it means that Christ’s return for his own (the rapture) is drawing ever near to remove us off the earth prior to his wrath being poured out.

And now for this gem… “Comet Elenin, which was in the news for some time, until NASA convinced the public that it broke up as it neared the sun was really just a warning to those in the know that Nibiru/Planet X was back and to prepare. It appears that Elenin was an intentional acronym for … wait for it…. wait for it….. wait for it…..

{E}xtinction {L}evel {E}vent {N}ibiru {I}s {N}ear.

A VEILED MESSAGE TO JOHN:  A REVELATION 4:1 PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE

“Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom” (Matthew 16:28).

Similarly, in the closing words of John’s Gospel, Jesus gave the clear impression that the fulfillment of the age could come within the lifetimes of the Apostles.  In chapter 21, Jesus gave Peter the well-known threefold affirmation:  “Lovest thou me? … Feed my sheep.”  Then, he prophesied the manner of Peter’s death some years hence.  Naturally intrigued, Peter saw John standing nearby and seized the moment to ask Jesus about the manner of John’s death.  But Jesus mildly reprimanded him, saying, ” … If I will that he tarry til I come, what is that to you?  follow thou me” (John 21:22).  Jesus made no attempt to tell Peter that his coming lay in the distant future.  In the next verse, John clarified Christ’s meaning:

“Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?” (John 21:23)

Some had taken the words of Jesus literally, that John was guaranteed virtual immortality until Jesus returned, no matter how long that would be.  John corrected the statement, making it conditional.  But he still didn’t imply that Jesus’ coming would be in the far future.  It is a matter of simple, historical fact that Christians in the first century believed that Jesus might return while they were yet living.  Of course, this did not happen, so what did Jesus mean when he told John that there are some standing here that will not taste of death until they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom?

First, and obviously, Jesus is saying this to his disciples who are standing there in his presence, so it is obvious that Jesus knew what they were thinking.  On the surface, it looks as though Jesus was saying that John will still be living when Jesus returns.  But as we now know, John the Apostle ended up exiled on the Isle of Patmos by the Roman authorities and was supernaturally “caught up” into Heaven and shown the future.  John actually time traveled to the future and saw the events that would transpire in our still future.  He saw the Tribulation and the events that will unfold during that time.  This fulfilled Jesus’ statement when he said in Matthew 16:28 that …

There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom” (Matthew 16:28). 

More specifically, what John saw was not only the horrors of the Tribulation period, but Christ returning to earth with his saints and establishing his 1,000 year millennial reign on earth, hence Christ’s statement that he (John) would see the son of man coming in his kingdom. But if this was the second coming of Christ that John saw, what about the Rapture that occurs at least seven years or more prior to Christ’s second coming before the Tribulation starts?  For the answer to this question, what we should take notice of now is Revelation 4:1 …

“After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter” (Revelation 4:1).

With the structure of the Bible being what it is, it is interesting to note that John is “caught up” to Heaven off the Isle of Patmos in Revelation 4:1 with the sound of a trumpet.  As we’ve already seen, the rapture will be accompanied with the sound of a trumpet.  It is clear from what is going on here that this is meant by God to convey the fact that the Rapture of the church will occur at Revelation 4:1 before the judgments of Revelation 6 (also describing the same events in Isaiah 24) occur.  John’s “catching up” in Revelation 4:1 is an intentional picture of the rapture of the church also occurring in Revelation 4:1.  The exciting picture to see here is not only the fact that the rapture will occur at this point before the Tribulation begins, but also that fact that if we are beginning to see the moons of the Planet X system appear in our skies that will ultimately and eventually cause the judgments of Revelation 6 and Isaiah 24, then these Planet X moon sightings are telling us that the rapture is that much sooner to come.  The picture that my wife has taken that I’ve shown in this article should be a rapture wake-up call to everyone.  Time is swiftly running out.

REVELATION 4:1 RAPTURE BREAKING NEWS UPDATE 1:

LETTER DALET APPEARS IN THE SUN:  THE DOOR

September 1, 2019:    It is with great peculiarity and excitement that I can report to you what some spiritually discerning believers have already reported on.  On September 1, 2019, a sign was seen in the sun by the Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO).  It was none other than the Hebrew letter “dalet.”

  

The numeric value of the letter dalet is the number 4.

The pictogram or symbol behind the shape of the letter dalet is a doorpost or lintel.  The word for door in Hebrew is “delet,” or door.  The word “dalet” in Hebrew is spelled with the letters “dalet,” “lamed” and “tahv” pictured below.

The word for a door or gate in Hebrew is “delet, also spelled with a “dalet,” lamed” and “tahv.”  In this instance, though spelled the same, is pronounced slightly differently.    “The dalet also alludes to dahl, pauper, who knocks on doors begging for alms … The shape of the dalet is like that of a door with it’s lintel spreading right and left, and it’s doorpost reaching up and down.”  So, the idea in view with this fourth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is clear.  It is a door or gate.

Not just an entrance way, but a barrier that can be opened and must be opened in order to enter.  When one opens a door or gate, you pass through what was a barrier.  You leave one area and you “cross over” and enter another area.  How magnificent it is, then, to look at Revelation 4 (the number of the dalet) and see in verse 1 the picture of the rapture of all those who are born again in Christ into Heaven as we leave this world behind and escape God’s judgment upon an unbelieving world …

“After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. …” (Revelation 4:1).

Further still, let’s take a look at the position that the letter dalet holds in the Hebrew alphabet.  It is the 4th letter.  It is on the 4th day of creation that God created the sun, moon and stars.  God placed them in the heavens to give light on the earth and to separate the light from darkness.  On day 1, God had created light.  God separated the light from the darkness.  On day 2, God separated the waters below from the waters above.  On day 3, God had commanded that the waters below be gathered into one place, separated from dry land.  But on day 4, God commanded that the sun, moon and stars be set in place in order to separate the light from the darkness.  In this idea of separation from one space to another, you are either in one space or in the other.  You cannot see what is on the other side, but you can see the means of crossing over to the other side.  You have to approach the door, reach out and open it.  When it opens, one can cross over.  You choose to recognize the door and you choose to approach the door.  Jesus said the following words …

“I am the door, if anyone enters through me, he will be saved” (John 10:9).

Jesus was not speaking randomly.  He was saying plainly that he is the means of crossing over from dark to light.  From death to life.  He is the door.  Jesus was alluding to things written about in the Old Testament.  When Israel came out of Egypt, they had to take some of the blood of an innocent sacrificed lamb and apply the blood to the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses they lived in …

“And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it” (Exodus 12:7).

When the angel of death saw the blood, he passed over the house and the Israelite family inside under the blood was spared death.  Psalm 118 is a Messianic Psalm.  It speaks of Jesus …

“Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord: This gate of the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter.  I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation” (Psalm 118:19-21).

The term salvation is the Hebrew name for Jesus.

In looking at the sun, moon and stars in the heavens, we know from scripture that God has placed them there for a sign …

“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years … ” (Genesis 1:14).

The sun overwhelmingly is our main source of light.  The sun specifically separates the light from the darkness, the day from the night.  The moon doesn’t produce light.  It only reflects light.  God raised up ancient Israel to reflect his light.  The Bible came to us through the Jews of ancient Israel.  This is why we would see this sign in the sun in a Hebrew letter, the original biblical language.  When observing the stars, we accurately conclude that they are like the sun.  They are balls of fire, but they are far away from our sun.  When the sun is shining, we cannot see the stars.  But when it is dark, we do see them.  The darker it, the brighter they shine.  There are literally billions of stars, just as we are told in scripture that born again believers are created in the image of Jesus once said person was saved.  The function of the body of born again believers is to reflect the light of the sun (Jesus) …

“That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

The sun, set in place on the 4th day of creation, is a sign pointing to Jesus.  Malachi was the last of the Old Testament prophets.  Malachi in Hebrew means “my messenger.”  His final writings say ..

“For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall” (Malachi 4:1-2).

One will notice how this Old Testament prophecy predicts the coming of Christ and refers to him as the sun, spelled with a u instead of an o.

I think right now we can clearly see that God is sending us a prophetic signal that our departure from Earth is at hand.  That said, let’s take a look at a couple of other pictures of this amazing sign that appeared in the sun using a different optic and let this image sink in given the staggering implications of what it means and is saying to us in light of our Revelation 4:1 rapture study, and now, impending departure .

“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring …” (Luke 21:25).

It is quite remarkable indeed that the wording of the Luke 21 prophecy says that signs would appear “IN” the sun.

DID PAUL SAY TRUMP?

It is interesting to note that the Apostle Paul, through the power of the Holy Spirit, was given the revelation of not only the event of the rapture, but also the fact that it will be initiated with the sounding of a Heavenly trump. This future event is directly mentioned in two places of New Testament scripture. They read as follows …

“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last {TRUMP}: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed (1 Corinthians 15:52).

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the {TRUMP} of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

Is it just a coincidence that we just so happen to have a well known man with a biblically peculiar last name who rose to the presidency of the United States, the most powerful nation on earth?  A last name that just so happens to be the word that describes the method that God will use to initiate the rapture?

Furthermore, is it a coincidence that this man, with this biblically peculiar last name, rose to the presidency at the very same time that the curse (Allah) is rapidly spreading across the globe and that sightings of other heavenly bodies or moon-like objects related to the Planet X system are being spotted by many people (Isaiah 24)? Is it all just coincidental that we now have a dramatic sign of Jesus and the approaching rapture suddenly appearing in the sun?  Is it just a coincidence that these dramatic signs are converging at the same time? Before you answer, think about this – Jesus declares that …

“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man” (Luke 17:26).

The Last Trump occurs in the days of Noah.  How many people do you know named Trump? Trump, our current President, is a flashing sign, a prophetic truth. Since Obama’s second year of his second term, Noah has been the most popular baby name. The Donald Trump presidency will be the 58th presidential term in America’s history. It seems that 58 is very prophetically significant. It turns out that 58 is also a Hebrew word. That word is “Noah.” Noah means “comfort” or “rest.”  

Further still, another interesting observation to take notice of is the fact that this sign of the letter dalet appearing in the sun occurred in the month of September on the first day.  Scripturally speaking, the month of September is a most prophetically interesting one.  In keeping with the thought of the rapture, we read in Psalm 47 the idea of “going up” at the sound of a “trumpet …

“God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet” (Psalm 47:5).

There is an unmistakable theme throughout scripture regarding the sound of a Trumpet and the action of an “upward” direction.  As we’ve already demonstrated, the rapture occurs at the sounding of a trump or trumpet in which all those born again in Christ will ascend upward to Heaven.  In Old Testament days, the sounding of a trumpet, or shofar as it was called, is associated with the idea of “rising.”  In one of the many instances in scripture where this theme can be seen is in the story of the Exodus when Moses received the Law from the Lord to present to the Israelites …

“And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.  And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.  And the Lord came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up” (Exodus 19:18-20).

Here, we see that the Lord came down and Moses went up.  This is very indicative of what will happen when the trumpet of the rapture occurs as the Lord (Jesus) comes down or descends and the body of living believers ascends upward to meet the Lord in the air.  In the description of the conquests of Joshua and the People of Israel, the walls of Jericho came tumbling down after blowing the Shofars. And so it is written in the book of Joshua about the conquest of Jericho and the falling of its walls:

“And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.  And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him” (Joshua 6:4-5).

Here in Joshua, we see an amazing correlation with the people “ascending up” with the number 7.  Let’s take one more look at that sign in the sun.  Does it not also look like a number 7?

First and foremost, it more looks like the letter dalet, which is tied to the number 4 as demonstrated.  But it also strongly resembles the very biblical number 7.  This number in scripture is God’s number.

September is known in scripture as Rosh Hashana, or the “Feast of Trumpets.”  For many, the month of September has always been a prime candidate for the month of the rapture, whichever year it ends up occurring in.  The month of September is demonstratably very prophetic in historical biblical events.  It is most amazing indeed to see this sign appear in the sun on the very first day of the very month that is known for it’s “trumpets.”  Furthermore, even though September is the ninth month of the year in the modern-day Gregorian calendar and its predecessor, the Julian calendar, the month kept its original name from the Roman Calendar where it was the 7th month. Septem means “seven” in Latin. The month of September was named during a time when the calendar year began with March, which is why the name does not correspond with the placement in the Julian and Gregorian calendars.

• Middle English – septembre
• Latin name – september mensis – seventh month
• Anglo-Saxons – Gerst monath – Barley month

In older versions of the Roman calendar, September was the 7th month and had 30 days. After January and February were added to the calendar, it eventually became the ninth month and was shortened to 29 days. The 30th day was added again as part of the Julian calendar reform in 153 BCE.

REVELATION 4:1 RAPTURE BREAKING NEWS UPDATE 2:

A TRUMP AND THREE CROWNS

December 31, 2019: In the continuing peculiarity of the Hale-Bopp comet and it’s very strong prophetic statement of being an end times sign pointing to the rapture event and the global judgment of the book of Revelation’s seven-year judgment period upon Earth, we have what seems like another amazing and strong prophetic development in the saga of the Hale-Bopp comet. As the whole entire world knows by now, an ominous and, for many, deadly virus known as the Corona Virus (also called Covid 19) has exploded onto the world scene causing great concern, and in many cases, near panic. The virus was first and officially reported from Wuhan, China on December 31, 2019. Since then, many cities in China, including Wuhan itself, came under official quarantine. The virus since then has now been spreading globally and has caused, and continues to cause, ongoing disruptions to these nations. Without delving too deep into all the angles of this virus and how it got started and where it really came from, I would like to observe the seeming prophetic hint dropping that God may be giving us here.

In looking at the meaning of the word “Corona,” one will discover through a simple online search that “corona” is a Latin word meaning “crown,” from the Ancient Greek κορώνη (korōnē, “garland, wreath”). As we know from biblical prophetic scripture, after the rapture event occurs, believers in the raptured body of Christ will experience an event called the “Judgment Seat of Christ” in which rewards will be either won or lost based upon an individual’s service to Christ on Earth while in their physical fleshly body:

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (1 Corinthians 5:10).

These rewards, which may be a believers position of rulership among other delightful things in the coming kingdom of Christ on Earth and beyond, is symbolized by a crown.

There are five heavenly crowns mentioned in the New Testament that will be awarded to believers. They are:

1. the imperishable crown
2. the crown of rejoicing
3. the crown of righteousness
4. the crown of glory
5. the crown of life.

The Greek word translated “crown” is stephanos (the source for the name Stephen the martyr) and means “a badge of royalty, a prize in the public games or a symbol of honor generally.” Used during the ancient Greek games, it referred to a wreath or garland of leaves placed on a victor’s head as a reward for winning an athletic contest. As such, this word is used figuratively in the New Testament of the rewards of Heaven God promises to those who are faithful.

One will also find that “Coronis is a textual symbol found in ancient Greek papyri that was used TO MARK THE END of an entire work or of a major section in poetic and prose texts.” To mark the end of an entire work? In Revelation 2 & 3, we see Christ’s seven letters to the seven churches that bear the evidence of being timed prophecies of the seven church eras within the church age. At the present point in time, we are in the Laodicean Church era, which marks the end of the 2,000 year history of the Church before the rapture event takes place. In the following chapter (Revelation 4:1), we see a picture of the rapture as the Apostle John is caught up into Heaven immediately after the end of the Church Age. But the interesting thing to notice is the wording of Revelation 4:1 and it’s picture of the rapture as John is caught up into Heaven …

“After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter” (Revelation 4:1).

The New King James version has it “After these things.” After what things? After the Church Age. Hearkening back, is the Corona Virus (Coronis = Marking the end of an entire work) telling us that the end of the Church Age is now upon us and is extremely close?

The third prophetic peculiarity is that, according to Revelation chapter 6, the Antichrist himself rides forth onto the world stage where a crown (corona) is then given to him …

“And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer” (Revelation 6:1-2).

But prophetically speaking, it’s true origin is not what matters to the validity of this prophetic sign for a very biblically solid reason. It is the city of Wuhan in China where it first exploded onto the world public consciousness with it’s peculiar title name, and that is the narrative that everyone is aware of. That said, Wuhan is the capital of the Hubei province. Hubei is home to the White Horse Mountain named in honor of the “White Horse” which brought Buddhism to China.

Given the prophetic clue of the “White Horse” mountain coming from Wuhan, it is as though God reserved the narrative for Wuhan to give us a prophetic hint. Thus, God’s fingerprint of prophetic hint is upon it in my opinion. Prophetically speaking, divine providence seems to have dictated the Wuhan virus location as a sign of the future prophetic fulfillment of the White Horse rider, the Antichrist.

To be clear, I am not saying in no way, shape or form that the Antichrist is coming from Wuhan. Quite the contrary. What I am saying is that Wuhan may be a prophetic clue for the fact that a “crown” virus emerged from a place that has a mountain named “White Horse” for the aforementioned reason. Thus, God’s fingerprint of prophetic hint is upon it in my opinion wherever the Antichrist will come from specifically. The prophetic point of Wuhan should be a “soon to come” clue, not an “origination of the Antichrist” clue.

As previously mentioned, the rapture takes place before the Antichrist of Revelation 6 rides forth. Anyone notice the word “quarantine” being thrown around and acted upon in response to this virus? Let me explain.

As we know, the Old Testament is full of types and shadows of future prophetic events. It has been accurately said by many scholars that the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed, while the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed. This being the case, we can look at a specific Old Testament verse of scripture found in the book of Isaiah that many scholars have long known to be a strong prophetic indication of the rapture event, which involves being “hidden away” …

“Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain” (Isaiah 26:19-21).

“Hide thyself as it were for a little moment?” Could we say “QUARANTINE” thyself? Are we looking at a Holy Spirit inspired prophetic hint concerning the Coronavirus and the church’s hiding away, or should I say, “quarantining away” from the wrath of the Tribulation to come?

We seem to have a very interesting Holy Spirit inspired prophetic hint or picture emerging for us here that we now have “Corona” (crown) virus making the rounds with that specific word on the lips of the world while we have a “Trump” (rapture) in the office of the presidency. As already pointed out, the Hale-Bopp comet took a very interesting trek through the heavens to reveal a very biblically peculiar prophetic message to the world … a message that just so happens to also have a peculiar connection to the year 2017, Donald “Trump” and the emergence of a “crown” virus.

One could realistically paraphrase these happenings into a clear statement, and that statement is that God may be telling us that “the end of the church age” has arrived (koronis) and the “Trump” of God (Trump/Pence) will soon sound initiating the rapture. Upon our arrival in Heaven, “crowns” (Corona) will be given to the church while the Antichrist rides forth at the breaking of the sixth seal judgment wearing a “Corona” (crown). There seems to be a very strong prophetic thread and tapestry connecting the Hale-Bopp comet to current events through numbers, years and names, all displaying the sequence of events in which they will occur in biblical prophecy.

A final note on the prophetic aspect of the Corona virus is this – if this virus suddenly disappears and things go back to normal or relative normal, we ought not think that this virus episode was a prophetic non-starter. If nothing else, given it’s seeming aforementioned prophetic peculiarity, we should look at this as yet another warning sign that God gave to us that his return for the Church is soon to come. Take heed.

REVELATION 4:1 RAPTURE BREAKING NEWS UPDATE 3:

OMENS OF THE WHITE HORSE: CORONA HAIL HITS CHINA

June 25, 2020

As though confirming the previous prophecy update, a rare-for-China hailstorm has hit Beijing, China. Peculiarly, the hailstones were in the shape of the Coronavirus.

Even more interesting is the fact that it struck the city on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival that is normally held on the day of the summer solstice. The festival is normally held on the 5th day of the 5th month of the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar, which is the source of the festival’s alternative name called the Double Fifth Festival. The fifth month is considered an unlucky month in the Chinese culture. Further still, the fifth day of every month is considered unlucky. In the Chinese tradition, natural disasters and illnesses are common in the fifth month.

It is especially ominous when considering that the Chinese government is now threatening elderly Christians of the loss of basic benefits if they do not stop practicing their faith. It is even more significant that this Corona hail storm would happen on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival when considering the fact that the dragon represents Satan in the Bible …

“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads” (Revelation 12:1-3).

Notice that he is identified as having seven crowns (Corona) upon his heads. As mentioned previously, the Antichrist arrives on the world stage wearing a crown (Corona) in Revelation 6 after the “Trump” of the rapture has occurred. As we all know, the color white is associated with the Antichrist as the horse he is riding upon is the color white. As we also obviously know, hail is white. It is also interesting to note that it is China that the Luciferian (Satanic) elite who rule the nations from behind the scenes are building up as the model for the New World Order. They are using a model of Communism to achieve a greater end, one bigger than communism. Satan is behind this diabolical plan for a New World Order and his emissary, the Antichrist, will be the figurehead of this system.

In my humble opinion, this incident of Corona-shaped hail is no coincidence. Although spike-shaped hail happens on occasion and is not a new thing to occur, it is most interesting that the common form of hail (the round shape) was not the shape in this particular storm. The timing of the spike-shaped hail is what makes it peculiar. It is made peculiar in this instance for the above-named reason, which are the peculiar days on which a peculiar event was celebrated when this particular type of hail fell. It could have been the more common-shaped hail that fell on this particular day, but it wasn’t. For me, I lean toward the view that this demonstrates that a possible providential announcement to the world of the approach of the White Horse Rider has been made, especially when considering all the other prophetic peculiarities of the Coronavirus spectacle. This may or may not be significant in the sense of being a prophetic omen, but it is something to at least consider.

Those who are ready for what the signs portend are promised escape. For those who are not ready will regrettably experience what these signs portend (see the next section below titled “THE RAPTURE AND YOUR ESCAPE FROM THE COMING JUDGMENT.”

Taking all of these observations into account, it would seem that we have the makings of a divine wake-up call to the world.  There seems to be a very big and demonstrable connection between these events now unfolding and the imminency of Christ’s return for his own in the rapture event.  Make sure that you will be a part of this astonishing and thrilling escape.  Are you ready?  Be sure you are, you don’t have much time left.

THE RAPTURE AND YOUR ESCAPE FROM THE COMING JUDGMENT

The demonstratably divinely inspired text that we call the Bible promises a coming horrendous seven-year Tribulation period of judgment upon Earth for all of mankind, no matter what your religion, belief or creed is, and even to those who don’t believe anything spiritual at all.  We can now clearly see the signs of this approaching nightmare.  However, as we’ve already seen, this same divinely inspired text that we call the Bible promises a dramatic escape from off the face of the earth before this horrendous time of judgment only to a certain category of people.  

Put simply, an event is coming that will be so stupendous that it strains the mind to contemplate such an event happening.  It is an event that will see millions upon millions of people across the globe suddenly disappear without warning.  The millions of disappeared will have literally ascended into Heaven itself after instantaneously receiving a new glorified body fit for Heaven.  A body that will be able to withstand the atmosphere and glory of Heaven.  This event is known as the “Rapture.”  But the promise of escape is only to those who are “born again” in Christ.  This is why it is crucial to understand what Christ meant when he declared in no uncertain terms that only those who are “born again” in him will enter the Kingdom of God.  For the explanation of this, keep reading below.

In order to accept the offer of God’s grace and his salvation, you must take the crucial three steps of …

1. Agreeing – A belief and agreeing with God in all that he says in his word, the Bible, about the fact that you are separated from God, as every man and woman on the face of the earth are before accepting his salvation.  The Bible reveals that all are separated from him in a spiritual state of death, or said another way that the Bible reveals it, in a state of sin, that will result in damnation in the afterlife.  Agreeing with God in your heart that you are in need of his salvation.  The Bible reveals that God looks upon the heart of a man or woman, and thus, responds accordingly to the person who comes to him for salvation in recognition of his inability to save himself.  The Bible makes these facts very clear – “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).  “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).  The Bible describes these three kinds of death:

• physical death (the state experienced when life leaves our bodies).

• spiritual death (spiritual separation from God caused by our state of spiritual death inherited from the first man Adam – the state of sin that results in our daily outward acts of sin, whether deliberate or not, whether omissive or not; and finally …

• the second death (the fixed state entered into by the individual who dies physically while he or she is dead spiritually). This state is entered into after the death of the body which results in punishment in the afterlife until the event of the Great White Throne Judgment occurs wherein the damned are resurrected from Hades, or Hell, and are judged according to their works and finally destroyed and cease to exist after being cast into the Lake of Fire. Revelation 14 refers to this tragic end of the unsaved as the “Second Death” (verse 14). It is this state of suffering entered into after physical death and then final destruction at the Great White Throne Judgment in particular which is the horrible result of receiving the wages of sin (unforgiven due to unbelief and rejection of Christ). The Lord Jesus Christ frequently described such a death as being irrevocable in a destiny which he called Hell.  He described Hell as a literal place of judgment (Matthew 13:42); a place of everlasting fire (Matthew 18:8); a place of torment (Luke 16:24,28); a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:50); a place of remorse (Mark 9:44-48); of bitter memory (Luke 16:25), and a place originally prepared for the Devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41).  In fact, Jesus more often warned about Hell than he spoke about Heaven.

It is not God’s will or desire that any person should be consigned to perish in Hell (2 Peter 3:9), but rather that all should come to repentance of unbelief toward him and believe on him for the salvation of the individual’s soul.  But God’s justice requires that the “soul who sins” (remains in it’s state of death or state of sin) is the one who will die a second time after a long period of torment (Ezekiel 18:4).  So, agree with God, admitting that you are unable to save yourself and in a state of sin under God’s just condemnation for that sin and that you are in need of his salvation.

2. Believing – Then, believe that God does not want you to perish eternally in the torment of Hell because of your sin.  Believe that God loves you so much that he provided a way whereby he could still be a just, holy and righteous God, and yet pardon you.  Believe that God did not just overlook sin, but that he sent his only begotten son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to provide salvation by personally paying the penalty for sin.  Believe that Jesus Christ, whose life, death, burial and resurrection is the best-attested fact of antiquity, did come to earth to live, die, rise again and ascend to Heaven in order to provide justification and salvation for all who trust him.  Believe that he, and he alone, can save you because he has fully satisfied the just demands of God.  Believe that you can’t become righteous in God’s sight by your own effort.  Believe that he wants to save you and that he will save you.  The Bible provides a solid basis for such belief …

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved” (John 3:16-17). 

“But God demonstrates his love toward us in this:  while we were yet sinners,  Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). 

God presented him (Jesus Christ) as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood.  He did this to demonstrate his justice because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished – he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies the man or woman who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:25-26). 

“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.  For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;  And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures … ” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). 

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). 

“Jesus answered, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).  “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out [drive away]” (John 6:37).

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20).

3. Calling – It is not enough to agree with God, admit your need, and believe that Christ can and will save you.  You must act upon those facts. God’s requirement is that you repent of your unbelief toward him and actively call upon him for the salvation of your soul based on the fact that you cannot save yourself. It is unbelief in particular that damns the soul to its horrible fate …

“He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18).

You must be willing to completely turn from your own efforts to save yourself or from any other hope.  You must come to Christ, calling upon him for salvation and counting on the fact that he will do what he has promised.  This means simply taking the gift of pardon and eternal life which he offers.  Merely believing about Jesus Christ without coming to him makes as much sense and is as effective as believing that a medication can successfully treat a fatal disease, but failing to take it.  Yet again, the Bible emphatically and authoritatively provides the basis for such statements.

The word translated “believe” here means to “rest one’s entire weight and trust on the object or person in which the belief is placed.”  It requires action in keeping with the intellectual assent of that belief.

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).

” … but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

The logical question you may be asking at this point is:  “how do I come to Christ and call upon him?”  The answer is that “calling upon the Lord” is just another term for praying, or talking to God.  To talk to God is not a complicated process, dependent upon some special rituals.  God has invited people to approach him through his Son in simple, straightforward terms.  In fact, Jesus approved of the dishonest, despised tax collector who simply prayed, “God be merciful to me, a sinner.”  While the exact words of your prayer to God are not of vital importance (since God sees and knows the attitude of your heart), the following is the kind of prayer that you could pray in calling upon God for salvation …

“Dear Lord Jesus:  I realize that I need you.  I admit that I have sinned and that I deserve your just, eternal punishment for that sin.  But I am sorry for my sin and I am turning to you and asking for forgiveness.  I believe that you died and rose again to pay sin’s penalty on my behalf.  I come to you and open my heart to you.  I ask you to come into my life, forgive me for all of my sin and make me your child.  I invite you to take control of my life and to cause me to be the kind of person you would have me to be.  I thank you for doing this because you have promised that whosoever calls upon you, as I am doing now, shall be saved.  I pray this in the name of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.”

If this prayer expresses the desire of your heart, I urge you to sincerely and genuinely express it to God as your prayer.  The Bible makes clear that when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in our heart, God forgives our sins and counts us righteous, and that when we openly confess with our mouth what we have done in our heart,  God gives us assurance of that salvation (Romans 10:9-10).

“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again” (John 3:3-7).

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