#7 SCOFFERS BEWARE!

We have been checking out this ‘rapture’ business. We found it IS IN the Bible, it IS IMMINENT, and it WILL HAPPEN BEFORE the Tribulation.
Our 7-part series began with...
    http://hotspuds.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/omg.html                                                             

So why do many Christian leaders scoff at this, destroying our hope of being with our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, at any moment? It's probably because they get their recognition and 'authority' from this evil world which is about to be overthrown.

I hope the presentation of this series has encouraged you. Don’t bother looking for the ubiquitous ‘DONATE NOW’ button - which you won’t find, just spread the word among friends and family. Satan would like nothing better than for us to relax under false teaching and fail to warn of the coming judgment.          

Below is a comparison to confirm for you the profound difference between the Rapture and Christ’s 2^nd Advent.                                        

Notice that the saints will come WITH Him!                                       

1 Thess 3:13, Zech 14:5, Col 3:4, Jude 14, Rev 17:14,

For those who don’t love the Lord Jesus Christ, I’m afraid it’s… ‘Anathema Maranatha’

“Curse on you…He is coming anyway!”

	Rapture	2nd Advent
Promise…	to the Church	to Israel
Prophesied in OT?	a mystery	as Day of the Lord
Focus is…	the true Church	Israel
Announced?	no warning!	expected
Christ comes…	to redeem	to judge then reign
Christ comes as…	the Bridegroom	King of kings, man of war
Christ comes to…	rescue His bride	present His bride
Christ comes to…	meet us in the air!	the Mount of Olives
Christ comes…	for His saints	with His saints
Timing	before Tribulation	end of Tribulation
Trumpet calls…	all believers from Earth	all ‘elect’ to Earth
Who calls?	Jesus Christ - Himself!	the angels
Private or public?	private - in the clouds	‘every eye shall see Him’
Who is gathered?	the true Church	Israel & the nations
Cause for…	hope, joy, comfort	much mourning
Effect	1st Resurrection	death of wicked
Result	believers transformed	Creation restored
Saints taken…	to the Father’s house	to Earth
Relevance to Israel	a sign to Israel	rescue of Israel
Shock factor	greatest miracle since Creation	greatest earthquake in Middle East
Effect on Satan	in a great rage	bound for 1000 years
Leaves the nations…	under wrath	judged
Dispensational	end of Grace era	beginning of Millennium

#6 TELL US WHEN

We’re looking at this ‘rapture’ business. It sure sounds fantastic, even incredible but…we can be sure it WILL happen.  When??  We found the promise is:  BEFORE God’s wrath is felt on Earth.

Fasten your seatbelt – this might rattle your cage...even change your whole Christian mindset!

#6  WHEN? WHEN? WHEN?

You might be thinking: “Hang about!...didn’t Jesus say in Matthew 24 we have to endure to the end to be saved? Why should Christians get preferential treatment?”

Preferential treatment??   The first to face judgment will be Christians!...at the Bema Seat, the Judgment Seat of Christ.  2 Cor 5:10 ; 1 Peter 4:17                                                                           

Matthew obviously wrote for a Jewish readership about this special Jewish rabbi or prophet - Jesus of Nazareth - who had not been crucified or raised from the dead when He gave the Olivet Discourse. No, if you get your Christian doctrine pre-resurrection it will be flawed.                                                                        

‘Prove it’, you say??  

Matthew presents Jesus as Son of David, Son of Abraham (1:1), the rightful King of the Jews (2:2) taken to Egypt just like His ancestors (2:14). He came to fulfil the Law and the Prophets (5:17), sent to the lost sheep of Israel (15:24). Presented as their King (21:5) before the Gentiles (27:11) He was mocked (27:29) marched out His city (5:35) and crucified (27:37-44) so resorted to Galilee in rejection (ch28) – not heaven.                                                                                                                       

The Jewish Rabbi instructs His Jewish disciples

Chapter 24’s Olivet Discourse is the rejected Jewish Messiah teaching the faithful Jewish remnant about the ‘end times’ after His disciples asked:  “When? When? When?”…                                                         

When will the temple be destroyed?                             

When are you coming back to Jerusalem?         

When is the end of the age?

Notice how Jewish this is!                                                                                                       

Godly Jews will surely realize what has happened by the rapture of Christians: “…one is taken (paralambano: received near) and one is left (apheimi: forsaken)” 24:40-41. They will face extreme persecution.

Make no mistake - this is 'Jacob’s Trouble' (Jeremiah 30:7), Israel’s 70^th week (Daniel 9) when God will put the screws on Israel especially, now that the true Church is off the scene.

What was the Lord’s answer to all?

"WATCH!"

NEXT:…That 2^nd Advent
http://hotspuds.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/scoffers-beware.html

#5 THE FURY OF HIS WRATH

We're checking out this 'rapture' business. Are those who scoff at this as 'fundamentalist nonsense' right?...or are they doing Satan's work, teaching what destroys our hope?

The apostles expected Jesus Christ would return FOR us, just as He promised. 

That leaves the question - WHEN?? 

#5  THE FURY OF HIS WRATH

First, a reality check on what God is really like…

He is love…but don’t forget:

·       God sentenced Man to die

·       God has flooded the whole world

·       God scattered mankind into nations from the tower of Babel

·       God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone

·       God’s angel killed 185,000 Assyrian army officers in 1 night for besieging Jerusalem

·       Jesus Christ was flogged, crucified and speared after healing thousands of people

So what do we now have at Ground Zero in New York City?               

The ‘Freedom Tower’ - the One World Trade Centre built after Congress cited what the proud and arrogant Jews said in Isaiah 9:10… "The bricks are fallen down, but we will rebuild with hewn stones; the sycamore trees are cut down, but we will replace them with cedars”.                                                              
Next, it is lit up with rainbow lights to celebrate the redefining of marriage by a 5/4 majority decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, whose judges were sworn into office with hand on the Bible, saying “So help me God!”.  At the same time, US foreign policy actively promotes ‘gay rights’ with the US embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, flaunting a huge rainbow flag and ‘gay pride’ marches held in Jerusalem. To make matters worse, ‘Christian’ churches now solemnize 'gay marriages' in buildings once dedicated ‘To the glory of God’!

God’s wrath is NOT about the ultimate lake of fire – it’s about ‘hell on Earth’ – “Wrath of God from heaven upon all impiety, and unrighteousness…” Romans 1:18                                  

The apostle Paul promised:                       

“Jesus, our deliverer from the coming wrath.”                

“We shall be saved by Him from wrath.”      
“God has not set us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” – who said: “I will keep you out of the hour of trial, which is about to come upon the whole habitable world…” Rev 3:10



"OMG!!"

So! The imminent rapture must take place BEFORE God’s wrath is felt in the Tribulation.                        

Or would you rather stay here and trust to luck after listening to interpretations from the pulpit destroying your hope with ‘mid-trib’, ‘post-trib’, ‘amillennial’ nonsense?

NEXT: "Tell us when"     Click on...
http://hotspuds.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/tell-us-when.html

#4 THE IMMINENT RAPTURE

#4  THIS ‘RAPTURE’ BUSINESS

So are scoffers correct in saying the word ‘rapture’ is not even in the Bible?  NO!...they are wrong.  It appeared in Latin as ‘rapiemur’ in the Vulgate Bible - the only version available for 1000 years.


"deinde nos qui vivimus qui relinquimur simul rapiemur cum illis in nubibus obviam Domino in aera et sic semper cum Domino erimus"

In our English Bibles it is often written as ‘caught up’.  (Here is the original Greek: αρπαγησομεθα ‘harpazo’)

To find this we turn to apostle Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, but first…

Do you really believe our Creator God is all-powerful?...that He really raised a very dead Jesus from the grave?      

Do you really believe that God will be able to raise every man, woman and child who has ever died?                                                    

What about Jesus finally keeping His promise to come back for those who trust in Him as Saviour?  Is Jesus really your hope?   

Here is what will happen soon, as told to Paul by the Lord Jesus:

He will descend from heaven to personally call all believers on Him, whether alive or long since dead, with a great shout and trumpet blast, to meet Him in the clouds. Paul told the Corinthians that it will happen so quick that it will be a done deal in the twinkling of an eye!  (see 1 Thess 4:13-18)

Ok, it’s a snatch, it will be private – in the clouds, it will be quick, it will be decisive, oh and by the way, it’s all a mystery - only revealed to those initiated.

Don't bother looking for me...

Let’s be plain about this... 

Make no mistake - the imminent rapture of all believers on the Lord Jesus Christ WILL HAPPEN and it will be the most miraculous event since the Creation of the universe…which they say never happened!                                                                                          

The next question is…WHEN??...but first, a reality check:


http://hotspuds.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/the-fury-of-his-wrath.html

#3 WHAT IS YOUR HOPE?

We're looking at this 'rapture' business. Are those who scoff at this right?...or does their teaching serve Satan in destroying our hope? 

#3  WHAT IS YOUR HOPE?

Obviously that depends on who you are.                                          

We love labelling each other, starting with skin colour but did you know?... God sees only 3 groups!                                   

We all belong to either Jews, Gentiles or the church of God. (1 Cor 10:32) 
Gentiles have ‘no hope, without God in the world’ (Eph 2:12) 

…and a godly Jew’s hope??                                                            

“We had hoped [Jesus] was the one who is about to redeem Israel”                                              

“Lord, is it at this time that you restore the kingdom to Israel?”                                                                 

For the Jew it’s all about the Messiah restoring the kingdom of Israel, on Earth.

What about the apostles? Their hope was that Jesus would return for them; the apostle Paul’s hope was clearly to be ‘with Christ – very much better!’ (Phil 1:23) In fact his first letter to the Thessalonians is all about the hope that ‘we may live together with Him’.                                  

If early Christians were expectant of His return for them - any day, why shouldn’t we?

According to some people we have to ‘endure to the end to be saved’ (Matt 24:13) but they skip over the ugly bit in verse 9: “they will deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you”.

Remember what He said?  “I am the resurrection and the life: he that believes on me though he have died, shall live, and everyone who lives and believes on me shall never die.” Jn 11:26

My hope lies not in seeing Israel redeemed - which will surely happen one day - but in being with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ - maybe today!...no matter what may happen to me on some lonely beach.

What is your hope?

NEXT:...This 'Rapture' Business
http://hotspuds.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/the-imminent-rapture.html

#2 IS JESUS COMING...?

We're looking at this 'rapture' business. Are those who scoff at this right?...or are they doing Satan's work, teaching what destroys our hope?

#2  ...TO US...OR FOR US?

This is how small that BIG 'OMG' Creator came to us; lying as a helpless babe in a borrowed feed-box to finally be nailed on a borrowed cross - for you and me.

Notice that Jesus dodged questions like: “How is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world?” 
…and later: “Is it at this time that you restore the kingdom to Israel?”

In the meantime??                                                         
“What I say to you, I say to all, WATCH.”     

What did He say minutes before His arrest?                                    
“I go to prepare you a place…I’m coming again and shall receive you to myself, that where I am you also may be.”                  
Where??                                                                                                                      
“In My Father’s house…” (Jn 14) - not on Earth!

He has already come to us – next he comes for us, just like a Jewish young man would come back for his waiting bride after preparing a home attached to his father’s house.

It’s no wonder many disciples thought Jesus would return for them before John died.               
They were all expectant!




NEXT: Our hope...to be with Christ!
http://hotspuds.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/what-is-your-hope.html

#1 OMG!!

We're checking out this 'rapture' business. Are those who scoff at it right?...or are they doing Satan's work, by teaching what destroys our hope? 

Yeah??...so how BIG is your god?

Could your god create the universe from nothing by speaking it into existence?

Could he create EVERYTHING in just 6 days?

Could he stretch out the heavens just as easily as putting up a tent?

Can he tell the end from the beginning?

What about raising people from the dead?...that means really dead!

No, not just one person – EVERYBODY!!...even those vapourised, blown to bits, eaten by sharks, burnt to ashes then scattered in the wind…

Our Creator God is so BIG they say He doesn’t even exist!

If you don’t believe that eventually our Creator God will raise EVERY man, woman and child there’s no way you will believe what He is about to do!

NEXT: #2 Is Jesus Christ coming back to us...or for us? 
http://hotspuds.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/is-jesus-coming-back.html

#6 ANTI-CHRIST...snake in the grass!

We're looking at this coming 'anti-Christ' guy and find that he will be like a madman in history: Antiochus IV 'Epiphanes'. If we read on in Daniel 11 we learn more about... 

11.  THE ULTIMATE ANTI-CHRIST                          

…self-willed, self-exalting, blasphemous, probably an apostate Jew (“not regard the God of his fathers”), possibly homosexual (not regard “the desire of women”), thinks he is God, militaristic, idolatrous, controls Israel, and….divides the Land. (finally Palestinians get their claim!)  

What else can we learn about this guy?

Jesus said: “…if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive” but…later He described the thieving disciple, Judas Iscariot, as ‘the son of perdition’ – the same title given to “the man of sin…who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” (2Thess 2)

When we look at where Jesus' betrayal was prophesied by Zechariah we find chapter 11 is about shepherds: greedy shepherds, the real Shepherd betrayed for 30 lousy bucks (by Judas) and...
...a foolish shepherd – greedy, cruel, idolatrous, and an amazing prediction - with a useless arm and blind in one eye!

How else can we tell the  anti-Christ will be a Jew?

Old Jacob said of Dan: “…a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that bites the horse’s heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord.” (Gen 49:17)

Wow! Old Jacob anticipates the ultimate salvation of Israel but first, there’s that ‘snake in the grass’ that causes a falling away, thanks to Dan.  Guess which tribe is missing in the choice of 144,000 witnesses in Revelation 7? Dan!...the tribe that led Israel into idolatry.

So where will anti-Christ come from?

Isaiah gives us a hint in chapter 10:24 “do not be afraid of the Assyrian” and gives us a comprehensive wrap-up of the ultimate destruction of Satan’s evil triumvirate in chapter 14, identified as ‘the king of Babylon, Lucifer, and the Assyrian’ – the dragon, the ‘beast’ and the ‘false prophet’ at Armageddon.  Maybe anti-Christ will be an Iraqi from modern Assyria.

Does this sneaky, religious, apostate Jew, possibly from Iraq, sitting in the new Jewish temple in Jerusalem really sound like the leader of the European Union??

Remember the Jews are looking for their messiah; whoever the Gentile leader of the day is, is not that important to them. Jesus said: “Pay what is Caesar’s to Caesar…” 

#5 ANTI-CHRIST...a precursor in history

We're looking at this 'anti-Christ' guy, soon to hit the world stage, and we find he has a precursor in history...  

10.  THE MADMAN

The Syrian dictator Antiochus IV Epiphanes (‘God Manifest’) was foretold to Daniel very accurately in chapter 11:21-35. (vv36-45 has not been fulfilled yet)                                                   

It was he who tried to obliterate Jewish faith by interfering with the priesthood, peacefully entering Jerusalem on the 15th of Kislev, 168 BC to stop temple worship, sacrifice a pig on the altar, erect a statue of Zeus/Jupiter Olympus in the temple (‘abomination that maketh desolate’, v31), pouring pig broth on the Scriptures, looting the temple, banning circumcision, killing and enslaving thousands.

What was he like?     

...vile, cruel, ambitious, deceitful, flattering, profane, murderous…and from historic records we learn he was depraved, dancing naked with entertainers. His coinage proves he was religious, claiming to be ‘Antiochus God Manifest’.  

No wonder they called him ‘Epimanes’: madman! 

Yes...a murderous, religious usurper who desecrated the Jewish temple with his 'abomination of desolation'...a clear indication of what the anti-Christ will be like....so let's read on...


Click on the link:
    http://hotspuds.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/anti-christsnake-in-grass.html                                                                  

#4 ANTI-CHRIST'S 'ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION'

We're checking out this 'anti-Christ' guy and come across this 'abomination of desolation'...

9.  ‘THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION’

Nebuchadnezzar has destroyed that magnificent temple built by king Solomon and now the angel Gabriel gives old Daniel an amazing ‘heads-up’ on what the future holds for his people, the Jews - including three more desecrations of the temple.   
Yes, 3 more!!                      

No wonder these visions knocked poor Daniel around!...frail, weak, trembling…

-        Again, ‘the city and the sanctuary’ will be destroyed by “the people of the prince that shall come” …Daniel 9:26     
     (by the Romans in 70 AD)

-        And finally (nearly 2000 years later??), there will be an end to sacrifice and offerings, “with overspreading abominations, a desolator…” …Daniel 9:27 & 12:11           

Our Lord Jesus warned of this in Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14

-        In the meantime?…. a vile tyrant will place the ‘abomination that maketh desolate’ in the sanctuary…Daniel 11:31
     (by Antiochus IV Epiphanes on 15^th Kislev, 168 BC)

Three times the Jews were warned that all males must attend three feasts annually, and do not come empty-handed.  
Yes, godly Jews take desecration of their temple worship seriously. Jesus even made it His business to be at the temple for the ‘Feast of Dedication’ (John 10:22) commemorating its re-dedication on 25^th Kislev, 164 BC, and still celebrated today as Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights.

The Jews have been waiting 1,945 years for their temple to be rebuilt but meanwhile celebrate Hanukkah with a Muslim president in the Rainbow House!

When we see ‘gay pride’ parades in Jerusalem today, classically described as “spiritually Sodom and Egypt” in Revelation 11, we may have a clue as to what the final ‘abomination of desolation’ will be like.




What will this 'anti-Christ' be like?


To find out, click the link...
http://hotspuds.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/anti-christhas-precursor-in-history.html