Remember September 9.3.2018

Have you ever wondered why the Lord didn't just state plainly "the rapture of the Church will be before the tribulation."  I mean, it would have been a lot easier and put all the speculation to rest.  A few short words, a short sentence would have put the entire debate to rest.  But...….the Lord knowingly left room for speculation.  Why?

He did this to leave room for our faith to work.  The Word of the Lord is like a rock, and our faith is like the mortar that glues the rocks together to build a house.  The Lord left plenty of cracks or open spaces between His Words to allow our faith to fill in the voids.  3 people can read the same verse of scripture and come away with 3 different interpretations based on their faith (or lack thereof).

Here is an example of this:

Luke 10:25On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

26“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

Our Lord asked that man "how do you read it?"  In other words what does it say to you?

or better yet here:

Matt 9:29 Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith let it be done to you";

And what is our faith based on?  Certainly the Word of the Lord is part of it but also our knowledge of God.  Do we know Him?

John 8:19 Then they asked him, "Where is your father?" "You do not know me or my Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father also."

John 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

John 10:14 "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me--

This brings us to where we stand today with the escape of the Church.  There are pre-trib, mid-trib, and post-trib believers out there but only one of those groups is correct.  There is an obvious predictive benefit of one group who really knows someone over another group who "kind of knows" or really doesn't know someone at all.  The group who really knows the Lord has the upper hand here.  The Lord in His infinite wisdom left that room in His Word to be filled in by the faith of a people that knows Him.  Not kind of sort of knows Him but really knows Him.
That group who really knows Him will receive the reward of the promises according to their faith and patience:

Hebrews 6:12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

To understand whether or not the Church will go through the tribulation we really, really have to know Him and He has to know us.

Matt 7:21Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

The Lord clearly told us to watch for His return, all the time because we do not know when it will be:

Mark 13:32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

33Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. 34For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. 35Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: 36Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. 37And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

In 5 verses He told us to watch for His unexpected return 4 times.  This mind you was done by our God who is not wordy.  He knows how to say exactly what He wants to say with an infinite economy of words.  That's one of the benefits of being Almighty God :-).  Shockingly, we have two out of three groups (mid-trib and post-trib) who read the clear instruction the Lord gave us and knowingly, willingly defy it.  They refuse to watch!

The Lord told us about such people thousands of years ago:

Rev 3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.

The Lord told us to watch.  Not tomorrow, not next year, not mid-trib, not post-trib, watch NOW.  This requires zero interpretation, zero twisting, zero turning, zero thousands page e-books.  He said it clearly and He meant what He said.  I am going to watch because I take His Word seriously and because I love Him:

John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

This writer would encourage you to do what we were clearly told to do by the Almighty.  Watch...now...for His return...because we do not know when it is going to happen.  And, because He told us to do it.

grace and peace