| THE RAPTURE, WHEN WILL THIS HAPPEN? |
| There is great controversy regarding the Rapture. Here are some passages in scripture which relate to this. |
| ***** Mt. 24:4 Jesus answered: �Watch out that no-one deceives you. Mt. 24:5 For many will come in my name, claiming, `I am the Christ,� [Or Messiah; also in verse 23] and will deceive many. Mt. 24:6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Mt. 24:7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. Mt. 24:8 All these are the beginning of birth-pains. Mt. 24:9 �Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. Mt. 24:10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, Mt. 24:11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Mt. 24:12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, **** |
| Matthew 24:4-12 |
Matthew 24:4, Jesus tells us to WATCH that no-one DECEIVES us. Jesus told us that we will be persecuted and put to death and will be hated by ALL NATIONS because of Him. Then He continues (Matthew 24:10) to say that... AT THAT TIME, MANY WILL TURN AWAY FROM THE FAITH... Jesus is warning us (the church) right now! If there was a rapture, why would Jesus have to warn us about turning away from our faith. There is no reason to warn the world here, the world isn�t even reading the Bible let alone believing it right now! Some feel this is for the new believers, one�s who are saved during the Tribulation. Anyone who comes to Christ during the Tribulation will know of the danger of being a Christian at that time. That person will know of the possibility of being put to death for their faith. Since they will come to the Lord knowing of the consequences, why will they then turn away from their faith because of the consequences? Another point.....notice God says (Matthew 24:12) that because of the increase of wickedness, the love of MOST will grow cold. This doesn�t sound like many are going to be coming to a saving knowledge of Christ during the Tribulation. This is written to Christians who are believing in the rapture today! When the rapture doesn�t take place and we realize that we are, indeed, in the Tribulation, many Christian �rapture� believers will lose their faith. They will not have prepared themselves to endure the Tribulation and will feel that Jesus came and left them behind or that He just deserted all believers and some might even succumb to the mark of the beast. |