I will just leave out the word rapture so there is no argument whatsoever about what we are talking about. What has the Lord told us to do and promised us?
He told us to pray for this:
Luke 21:34“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. 35For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”
Now, we know there are many in the world who tell us there is no escape and we should not pray for it. They directly contradict the Lord's own command on and promise. We recently saw confirmation that the Lord will keep His Word to keep our foot from being snared and now we confirm it from a different angle.
Those who argue against the Lord's Word in Luke 21:34-36 tell us that somehow we deserve or 'need' to go through the snare, and the trials and tribulation stored up in the days to come. The problem is, for every reason they give there is a counter reason what this will not happen. Take this for example:
Prov 11:8The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked comes in his stead.
This is the Word of the Lord ^^ here. Not my opinion or speculation. So let me ask a simple question. The elders seated in heaven who are redeemed and rewarded men (Rev 4.4) from every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; (Rev 5:9).
Did they escape all that was about to happen in the book of Revelation? We see these redeemed and rewarded men in heaven from every tongue tribe and nation before any of the seals have been opened, did they escape all? They most certainly did. Were they 'delivered out of trouble' and the wicked left knee deep in it instead? Yes.
Some would say "ok but that is just the 24 elders, not the rest of us." They fail to solve the math problem presented in in Rev 5.9. Math problem? Yea, let's do some simple addition:
How many kindreds are there on earth right now?
How many different languages are there on earth right now?
How many different peoples are there on earth right now?
How many different nations are there on earth right now?
Go ahead and add up whatever numbers you get from the questions above and you tell me if the answer is greater than 24......
As a final nail in the coffin of the arguments we hear, when we read the Words of the Lord to the churches in Rev 2-3, do we see any language whatsoever of the righteous 'needing' to perfect their righteousness or having to be in the tribulation to 'witness to the wicked/lost' or any of the other litany of reasons given by the deniers? No, we don't see anything remotely close to that. What we do read is there is a church that will be kept from the hour of trial, and its the same church that sees an open door, and that same open door is seen in Rev 4.1 and that door is in heaven which proves being kept is not on earth, and further proof of not being kept on earth is a number of redeemed men in heaven from every kindred, language, people and nation in Rev 5 before any of the seals are opened.
We don't have to be creative, we just have to read the Word like a 4th grader would, simple and straightforward. Escape all, open door in heaven, redeemed and rewarded men in heaven, then all hell breaks loose.
Prov 11:8The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked comes in his stead.
^^^^^Amen ^^^^^^
grace and peace
Be Anxious For Nothing
5 years ago