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There have always been many voices saying “This is the way to know God.” Today’s media explosion has created more voices and more confusion. Why then another? Our purpose is to share truth to help strengthen your relationship with God and with other believers in your locality.

Personal connection with other believers cannot be replaced by the mass media. It is much more satisfying to have a deep spiritual relationship with ten believers than to be in a crowd of ten thousand. Every individual is important to God, and His plan involves each one in a very real way. There are things that are important to God that can only take place in close personal relationships.

The goal of God is to build a family of His children together in love, walking in truth. Personal submission and obedience to Christ will bring conformity of each member to Christ, and a growing expression of the nature of God in a local gathering. The testimony going out to the world around will be as a “light set on a hill that cannot be hidden” and “the pillar and ground of the truth.”

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112 Should Christians expect the Rapture or Great Tribulation?

Mar 29, 2018

Episode 112 Should Christians expect the Rapture or the Great Tribulation?

The subject of end-times is often a point of strong disagreement among many sincere believers. Should we be expecting the Rapture or is this a false expectation. Is the church destined to go through the Great Tribulation? Why is there so much confusion surrounding this subject? I think that one the main reasons there is so much confusion on end-times events is that we do not go back far enough to get a good foundation of God’s purpose and plan. To just start reading the book of Revelation and try to understand the events without a foundation in other parts of the scripture leads to confusion. God has been moving with purpose from eternity past to eternity future. Our place is to understand His purpose as much as possible and then live in accordance with His purpose.

  • Some basic foundations
    • God will deal with Israel again (Jer. 30, Ezek. 36-39, Rom. 9-11)
    • We are in the “Times of the Gentiles” (Daniel 9:24-27, Luke 21:24. Rom. 11:25)
    • The church is a “mystery” not seen by OT prophets (Eph. 3:8-11, Col. 1:24-29)
    • The revelation of the church as the Body of Christ is a New Covenant truth
    • The “Day of the Lord” is a general term and does not mean the same thing in every scripture
  • God has two plans, one for Israel and one for the church. They are not the same
    • Israel is promised a land as a nation. They look for their King and Messiah
    • The Church’s promise is as the Bride of Christ. He is their Lord and Husband
    • All saints from Genesis to Revelation are not in the church
  • The “one new man” is Jews and Gentiles made one in Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit
    • One new man (Eph. 2:14-18, Gal. 3:28)
    • Gentiles are grafted into Christ, not Israel (Rom. 11:16-25)
  • The coming of the Lord
    • The rapture is us coming to the Lord in the air (I Thess. 4:13-18, I Cor. 15:50-53)
    • The second coming is Christ coming to the earth as King of Israel and the world
    • The early church expected the soon return of the Lord
  • The “Great Tribulation” is not the normal tribulation that Jesus told us to expect
    • Is the time of “Jacob’s Trouble” (Jer. 30:7)
    • The pouring out of the wrath of God
    • People will come to the Lord during that time.
  • God has promised to keep the church from the Great Tribulation (Rev. 3:10-11, I Thess. 5:9)
  • God does not want us to know exact dates but to be ready at all times (Acts 1:6-8, Matt. 25:1-13)
  • The enemy would try to rob of us our “blessed hope.” (Titus 2:11-14)

 

Additional teaching on End Times issues:

http://www.ntchurchsource.com/literature/read/the-end-times/

https://www.amazon.com/Revelation-Sealed-Book-An%C3%ADbal-V%C3%A9lez/dp/1490824170