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The Daily Word of Righteousness
An Examination of Current Teaching, #52
Immediately after the distress of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. (Matthew 24:29,30)
It cannot be true that the Lord Jesus will return after the great signs in the heavens, because He is coming as a thief.
The teaching of the pre-tribulation rapture stresses that the so-called "rapture" can take place at any moment. There absolutely is no event on the prophetic timetable that will occur prior to the rapture. It is maintained that
the idea is that the Lord's coming will be a sudden, unheralded event, catching us by surprise. Therefore we have to be prepared at all times.
Since this is true, it is reasoned, the mighty signs in the heavens spoken of in the twenty-fourth chapter of the Book of Matthew cannot take place before the rapture. Otherwise we would be warned and the element of surprise would be greatly diminished.
There are two problems with this reasoning.
First, the New Testaments tells us clearly that the coming of the Lord will not come as a surprise to the righteous.
But you, brothers, are not in darkness so this day should surprise you like a thief. (I Thessalonians 5:4)
Second, when we say we would be alerted by the signs and thus not be surprised, we are assuming that we will be free to make choices the moment the signs begin to appear.
What may be more likely is that the signs of the Lord's coming will come with such power, speed, and fury that those on the earth at that time will not be able to then decide to repent and receive Christ. All of those events will come suddenly and with such speed they will be concluded within one generation. Indeed they shall surprise and terrify the wicked, who will be unable to repent and put their faith in Christ.
Third, there is evidence in the Book of Daniel that Antichrist will have such spiritual authority and power, he will be able to block the prayers of people in the cities under his control. There will be Christian churches in those cities following the elements of the Christian religion. But the Holy Spirit will be absent and genuine salvation will be impossible to achieve.
Fourth, repentance is a gift. No individual can come to Christ except as God draws him or her. If we decide to wait until the last minute to receive Christ, we may discover we have waited too long and now are not able to make the necessary spiritual choices.
To be continued.