The Lord has commanded us to wait patiently for the Kingdom of God to come to earth, for the time of our redemption from the chains of the physical body. If we faithfully guard His commandment, being patient throughout the years of waiting, the Lord has promised to guard us during the time of testing.

Today many Christians, including pastors, are being drawn into the pornography presented on the Internet. Satan has managed to snare them because they have not been guarding the Lord's command that we deny ourselves and patiently bear our cross behind Christ.

If we would escape being spiritually harmed by the calamities that shall come upon the earth in the last days we must patiently follow Jesus each day, especially when we are not being subjected to persecution or other kinds of suffering. It is during times of ease that we can be deceived by the Antichrist spirit, the spirit that teaches us we are our own god.

Let us repeat what the same writer, John, said in his Gospel account:

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. (John 17:15—NIV)

Jesus does not ask the Father to remove us from the world. We are the light of the world, the salt of the earth. It is here in the earth that we are needed. The Lord does not desire that we be removed from the earth.

What Christ does desire is that we be protected from the snares of Satan, and it is for this that He prays.

If we protect the word of Christ's patience, then Christ will protect us from the evil one during the period of testing.

Make sense to you?

So far we have demonstrated, I think, that Luke 21:36 and Revelation 3:10 are being misinterpreted. They are being used as a support for the unscriptural, mythical flight of a "Gentile church" (an unscriptural term and concept) to Heaven in order to escape suffering. Let us turn now to the primary source of this myth and point out that it has nothing whatever to do with Gentiles being carried to Heaven to escape trouble.

I Thessalonians 4:13-17

Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe Jesus died and rose again and so we believe God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. (I Thessalonians 4:13-17—NIV)

When examining a passage of Scripture it is a good idea to stand back, as it were, and try to get a sense of what the Apostle is talking about. Many misunderstandings would have been avoided if those who presented their theories had considered the entire Bible, then the book they were examining, and then the immediate context of the verse or passage they were expounding.

To be continued.