1) Jesus preparing a place … will come and get you — this is different than great tribulation
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. (John 14:1-4)

2) The “rapture” is a secret not revealed in prior ages — but the great tribulation is prophesied in the Old Testament
Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. (Jeremiah 30:7)
And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? (Joel 2:11)
The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. (Zephaniah 1:14)
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, (1 Corinthians 15:51)

3) The “rapture” is a quantum event — In the twinkling of an eye … we will be changed — but the great tribulation will be 7 years
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. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:51-53)
In the twinkling of an eye … we will be changed – From our birth in dying mortal bodies. Then in a Twinkling of an eye. A single click of God’s clock. We will be changed to be immortal with God forever.
And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. (Mark 13:26)
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; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. (Luke 21:25-28)
And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. (Acts 1:9-11)
Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. (Revelation 1:7)

4) The “rapture” is a rescue, but the great tribulation is a judgment
I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. (John 17:6)
Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. (Revelation 3:10)
Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: (2 Thessalonians 2:5-8)
Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; 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 2:1-2)
For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. (Matthew 16:27)
Matthew 24 is the second coming (not the rapture) — Many Christians confuse the “taken” in this passage with the rapture of the church. This is wrong. It occurs in the context of the judgments at the second coming not the rapture of the church. It refers to the judgment of the Noahic flood where the unbelievers were taken in judgment and the 8 souls were kept safe and dry in the ark (1 Peter 3:20). It reflects back on the carrion birds eating the dead bodies of those who were judged (Matthew 24:28) 7 reasons Matthew 24 “one will be taken and one will be left” is not the rapture — 7 reasons from the parallel gospel accounts that Matthew 24 “one will be taken and one will be left” is not the rapture of Christians to heaven.
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: (Matthew 25:31)

5) The Apostle Paul taught a pre-tribulation “rapture”
If the Apostle Paul had believed and taught a mid-tribulation rapture, a post-tribulation rapture, or an amillennial non-rapture, he would have simply told the Thessalonians that the rapture hadn’t happened yet because XYZ hadn’t happened yet. But, he didn’t. He described the rapture as the next great event in the heavenly calendar. So encourage each other with these words.

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)

6) “Gathered to meet Him” is different than “The Lord is coming with countless thousands of his holy ones”
Everything is peaceful before the rapture but not before the second coming.
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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. 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. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do. (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11)
And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, (2 Thessalonians 1:7)
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. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 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: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12)

7) No mention of the church during the great tribulation in Revelation 4-22
There is no mention of the church in the prophetic description of the great tribulation period. The church is mentioned 16 times in chapters 1-3. But, it is not mentioned once in chapters 4-22 from the great tribulation through the battle of Armageddon and the 1000-year reign of Christ on Earth.

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)

How do government leaders really get elected? Is it purely by votes or is another selection mechanism at work? See the slideshow here for more information.

By Maria Kneas, May 8th, 2024

Spiritual warfare is increasing. The spiritual atmosphere keeps getting darker. And in the world around us, we are seeing more and more evil. Shameless, in-your-face evil that we never could have imagined a few years ago. Rampant delusion and insanity. And widespread lawlessness that keeps increasing.
 
As Christians, we need to do two kinds of reconnaissance in order to protect ourselves and our loved ones. And in order to be able to be effective in doing practical things to resist this evil.
 
The first kind of reconnaissance that is needed is the obvious one of studying the enemy. Its strengths and weaknesses. Its strategies. And its practical tactics. Plus identifying its enablers.
 
The second kind is something that we can easily overlook because we have become distracted by looking at the enemy and the damage that it is doing. And because we have become war weary.
 
We need to study ourselves in order to see if there are any ways that the enemy can readily get at us. Do we have vulnerabilities? Do we have a soft underbelly, or an Achilles heel? Because if we do, then the enemy can harm us. And that will cause problems not only for us, but also for people we love.
 
The Bible warns us about some things that we need to watch out for. I’m only mentioning a few here, but there are others as well. We need to be on guard for all of them. In addition, we can ask God to cleanse our hearts. Psalm 19:12 says, “Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults.”
 
Because of that Scripture passage, every day I ask God to deal with my blind spots. With the problems I have that I’m not aware of. (Or maybe only partially aware of.) To give me “ears to hear” what He is saying to me. To make me willing and able to see what He wants me see. And to make me willing and able to do whatever He wants me to do about it.
 
With the way that the world keeps getting more and more evil and insane, all of us have to deal with fear and anger and discouragement. All of those are natural responses to being faced with evil. Especially when it sometimes seems to be overwhelming.
 
For me, the primary problem is fear. (But sometimes I get quite angry.) For strong men, the primary problem is likely to be anger. (But they also have to deal with fear and discouragement.) For some people, the primary problem is discouragement.
 
When discouragement hits, it’s good to remind ourselves that God is willing and able to keep us going until our tour of duty is over. We are weak, but Almighty God can enable us to be faithful soldiers. God can give us the strength and courage and faithfulness that we need in order to be able to do that.
 
Of course, we all have other ways that the enemy of our souls can get to us. Weaknesses. And blind spots. And areas of vulnerability. And we all get war weary. Therefore, it’s good to keep asking God to deliver us from these areas of weakness and vulnerability. To make us aware of them and show us how to overcome them. To make us be strong enough to keep on fighting. And to enable us to fight effectively.
 
When it comes to dealing with fear and discouragement, it helps to keep remembering Eternity. Our time down here on earth is SO brief compared to Eternity.
 
While we are here on earth, time seems to go by slowly. But remember what the Apostle Paul said:  “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” (2 Corinthians 4:17)
 
Remember who talked about a “light affliction” that was only “for a moment.” This is the Apostle Paul who was beaten, stoned and left for dead, thrown into a Roman prison, betrayed, shipwrecked, had times of extreme hunger, was attacked by mobs, etc.
 
Now I’ll put that in terms of us personally, here in modern America. If some horribly evil people do something terrible to us, the worst that they can do is to cause temporary suffering and death. But if we love God, then we will be in Heaven with Jesus, rejoicing for all Eternity. And the same applies to the people we love.
 
There are NO exceptions to Romans 8:28. God promised to make ALL things work out for the good of those who love Him. And therefore, no matter what anybody does to us, if we love God, then eventually we will look back at what happened to us and be grateful that we went through it because of the good that God brought out of it.
 
A good example of that is what happened to Joseph in Egypt. His brothers meant it for evil. But God meant it for good. And God brought great good out of all of the suffering that Joseph went through. Not only for Joseph, but for his entire family. And for multitudes of people in Egypt.
 
When dealing with anger, it helps to remember what the Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 6:12:  “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
 
Remember that many of these seriously evil people are literally demon possessed. Or else they are being controlled by (or heavily influenced by) evil men and women who are possessed. Either way, they are being used by puppet masters. Our real enemy is the devil. Not the puppets.
 
It also helps to remember Romans 12:19. The Apostle Paul said, “Do not take revenge, dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written, ‘Vengeance belongs to me. I will pay them back, declares the Lord.’”
 
Now that does NOT mean letting evil people get away with things. We can fight them and their agenda tooth and nail. But at the same time, we can do that without hating them or trying to get revenge.
 
In Matthew 5:44, Jesus told us:  “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.”
 
How in the world can we do that with somebody as wicked as George Soros? Here are some things that help me do it:
 
(1) We don’t know how they got that way. They may have been tormented and deceived and deluded since childhood. They may be possessed by demons.
 
(2) Obviously they don’t deserve love and prayer. But neither do I. Because of my sins, I deserve to go to hell. But in spite of that, Jesus loves me and He forgave me. Therefore I should show my love and gratitude to Jesus by obeying Him.
 
(3) The one thing that I can do for horribly wicked people is to pray for their salvation. That shows them love, and it blesses them, and it is praying for them.
 
(4) Jesus paid a terrible price in order to enable those people to be able to get saved. And Jesus should get what He paid for. Therefore, I can pray for their salvation for the sake of Jesus. Because I love Jesus and I want Jesus to get what He paid for.

(5) Forgiving is a way of showing loyalty to Jesus. It’s a way of showing Jesus that my love for Him is more important than my anger at those horrible people. That my relationship with Jesus is more important than my feelings about those people.
 
The Bible gives us an important warning about anger. There can be righteous anger. We see that when Jesus turned over the tables of the money changers in the Temple. However, because of our sin nature, even our most righteous anger isn’t 100% righteous. And over time it can gradually morph into becoming unrighteous. Therefore, long-term anger can give the devil ways of getting at us. Only God is holy enough to have His anger be 100% righteous. And have it remain totally righteous.
 
Here is what the Apostle Paul told us in Ephesians 4:26-27. He said:  “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.”
 
Some translations use the term “place” but others say “opportunity.” The Greek word is “topos” and it is Strong’s 5117. It can mean place, situation, or opportunity.  In military terms, that would be a beachhead. A place from which to launch an attack.
 
Here is something that the Apostle Peter said. This applies to fear and anger and discouragement and any other kind of emotion. In 1 Peter 5:8 he said:  “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
 
The Webster 1828 dictionary gives five definitions of the word “sober.” One of them is, “Regular; calm; not under the influence of passion; as sober judgment; a man in his sober senses.”
 
If we become overwhelmed by any kind of emotion, then that can impair our judgment. It can make us  become less vigilant, because we have become preoccupied by our feelings. And that can give the devil (and his minions) an opportunity to get at us.
 
Here is another important principle. Jesus told us to forgive. In Matthew 6:14-15, Jesus said: “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Jesus said that immediately after giving the disciples the Lord’s Prayer.
 
Obviously, forgiving is very important to Jesus. That’s a problem, because sometimes it can be VERY difficult to do. For example, I know a woman who had to forgive the drunk driver who killed her son. And Corrie ten Boom had to forgive the Nazi guards who tormented her and her sister Betsy in a German concentration camp. Betsy died there.
 
There have been times in my life when I was hurt so deeply that it was very difficult to even want to try to forgive those people. I had to start out by asking God to make me be willing and able to forgive. Here are some things that have helped me forgive when it was difficult:
 
(1) That person obviously does not deserve to be forgiven. But neither did I. Because of my sins, I deserved to go to hell. However, in spite of my sins, Jesus forgave me. Jesus was willing to be tortured to death on a cross, in order to enable me to be forgiven.
 
(2) Jesus told me that because He forgave me, I should forgive other people. That includes people who have done harmful things to me and to people I love. I should forgive them. However, that does NOT mean allowing them to keep on doing harmful things. I can forgive the person and at the same time protect myself and my loved ones.
 
(3) If I don’t forgive, then I am disobeying Jesus. I am rebelling against Jesus. How can I say that Jesus is my Lord and Master if I refuse to try to obey Him?
 
(4) If I don’t forgive, then I have given my anger at that person priority over my love for Jesus. That is a form of idolatry. It is putting my feelings about somebody above the Lordship of Jesus.

(5) Doing what Jesus tells me to do is a way of showing love and loyalty to Him. Therefore, I try to forgive out of loyalty to Jesus. And love for Jesus. And the desire to obey Jesus, who is my Lord and my Master. I want to be his “good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21, 23)

(6) When it’s really difficult, then I ask Jesus to make me be willing to forgive. With Corrie ten Boom, for her it was so difficult, that her starting point was to ask Jesus to make her be willing to be willing to forgive. The point is to move in the right direction, as much as we are able to.
 
We are living in challenging times. But God knew when we should be born. And He has work for us to do here and now.
 
Chuck Missler said that our time on earth is Boot Camp. That God is training us and preparing us and equipping us for the work that He has for us to do when Jesus rules and reigns from Jerusalem for a thousand years. And for whatever God has for us to do after that.
 
God is faithful and He loves us. And God’s power is beyond our comprehension. Almighty God created the universe, and He holds it together with the word of His power.
 
God’s love and power and wisdom and faithfulness have no limits. Therefore, no matter what happens to us, because we love God, He will make it work out for our long-term good. And when we get to Heaven, then we will look back and be grateful for everything that we went through because of the good that God brought out of it.