The Seed Blog: We'll Leave the Light on For You!

With all of the evidence we have discussed in previous sermons... Including the alignment of countries, modern technology, world events and fulfilled prophecies. Which are descriptive of the Last Days...Added to the world changing events of 2020...Including the global pandemic...And the severe, rapid decline in the moral and spiritual attitude of multitudes across the nation and the world...Many Christians are pondering whether we truly are nearing the end of the world as we know it... And are about to see...

Either the "Snatching Away" of God's people in the Rapture of the Church... (If you believe pre-tribulationism) Missing the days of the Tribulation here on earth...And seeing our Jesus, our loved ones...  In the twinkling of an eye!
 
Or the beginning of the worst seven years of horror, persecution and wrath from God the world has ever experienced! (If you believe mid or post-tribulationism) As we fight for our lives in madness, starvation, chaos, and natural disasters... All the while being hated, hunted and killed for our faith! Now... Although our beliefs about when Jesus will Return are not important in living out our faith as brothers and sisters... They surely have a massive impact on what our attitude and feelings may be... Concerning our fast approaching future on God's Timetable!
 
I personally have studied this topic for many years...Wanting to know the most solid Biblical answer to this question...And although I understand the reasoning behind other views...I believe there is powerful and convincing evidence...We can all rest in the assurance... That God's next Big Event... Will be His Return for His Bride...BEFORE this time of Great Persecution! Now... Do I believe His Coming will be in the next few weeks or months, because of all of the chaos we now see? I absolutely cannot predict this, based upon Scriptures...I believe it is very near... But we may yet have some time left to face increasing persecution and troubles before His Return! Yet knowing how prevalent this topic has become in so many hearts… I would like to take some time this morning...And reveal to you the seemingly overwhelming evidence...Which would set our hearts and mind at ease...About what our expectations should be over this soon coming "End of this Age!" So we might join Paul in…
 
Titus 2:13 (ESV)
13  waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
 
Evidence For A Pre-Tribulation View! There are a number of evidences and verses we will discuss concerning the time of the Rapture…(Or snatching away of His Saints) Some of these Scriptures, when read alone...Could be interpreted in different ways than pre-tribulation...That is why EVERY verse spoken on any topic...
Must be read and considered as a whole…Because they all fit together as a Masterpiece...Often expanding upon or clarifying what was written in part... Somewhere else in Scriptures! Let's delve in! Going from simple and general... To direct!
 
ONE- In Revelation... The "Church"...
 
The Body of Believers of Jesus Christ here on earth...
Is mentioned 19 times in just the first three chapters of Revelation…
But is never mentioned again throughout all of the chapters of the Tribulation (4-18)...
Until Christ Returns to the earth WITH HIS CHURCH…
To reclaim His Kingdom from Satan's hoard forever!
This is repeated 7 times to church in three chapters…
 
Revelation 3:6 (ESV)
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'
 
But later in the Tribulation, God speaks this way!
 
Revelation 13:8-9 (ESV)
8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear:
 
Never repeated again!
If God's Beloved Bride were still on the earth through this horrible time...
Do you not think there would be words of wisdom, encouragement, and especially purpose for them?
On the contrary... Think about this…
Only the two prophets...
Sent to earth during the Tribulation... (Revelation 11:3-12)
And the 144,000 sons of Israel... (Revelation 7:1-8)
Are seen as being commissioned to evangelize the world for Christ during this time!!
 
TWO- While we are in this section of Revelation...
 
The very next verse following the commissioning of the 144,000 Jews...
Gives this description of events in Heaven:
 
Revelation 7:9-10 (ESV)
9  After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10  and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
 
This scene shows a massive multitude of believers from every nation and tribe...  Before the Throne in Heaven!
And this is not even to the HALFWAY mark of the Tribulation!
But especially notice...
They are clothed in WHITE ROBES!
Where did this enormous multitude of people from all over the earth come from...
Standing in glorified bodies (Wearing robes!!!)
 If not from the Rapture that has already taken place?!
All through a Revelation we see multiple glimpses of the Church in Heaven… None on earth!!
 
THREE- Not only are Saints wearing robes of Righteousness...

But during the first half of the Tribulation...
We also see the 24 Elders, who have been given positions of authority with Jesus...
Who are wearing robes and CROWNS!
 
Revelation 4:4 (ESV)
4  Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads.
 
When are we supposed to Scripturally be Judged and receive CROWNS?
 
1 Peter 5:4 (ESV)
And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
 
2 Timothy 4 (ESV)
8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
 
FOUR- Scriptures tell us that WE are coming BACK WITH HIM at the end of the Tribulation...
 
Meaning we MUST have left at an earlier time, right?
 
Revelation 19:11-14 (ESV)
11  Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12  His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13  He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14  And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.
 
This army that follows Him is arrayed in "White and Pure" linen!
(Only meaning the Blood-bought Saints of God!)
This does not count out a Mid-Trib view...
Which we will address with more evidence shortly...
But it absolutely erases a Post-Trib view!
 
FIVE- God's Word repeatedly says that His Saints are…NOT appointed to experience the Wrath of God!
 
Some would quickly argue that Scriptures show God protecting His people (with a seal upon their heads) in the midst of the Tribulation...
NOT removing them from it… But protecting them thru it!
With this verse...
 
Revelation 9:4 (ESV)
4  They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
 
This thought is quickly and clearly done away with because of four points...
First... A quick look two chapters back...
And Scriptures clearly define who these "marked" Saints truly are...
 
Revelation 7:2-4 (ESV)
2  Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, 3  saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4  And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
 
Those Israelites commissioned to evangelize in these days!!
Secondly... As we listen to these verses about protecting God's people from wrath...
 Note that Scriptures speak of keeping them FROM that Day...
NOT protecting them IN that Day!
 
Luke 21:34-36 (NKJV)
34  "But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. 35  For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36  Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man." (escape... not be protected from)
 
1 Thessalonians 5:2-11 (ESV)
2  For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3  While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4  But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5  For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness... 9  For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ... (Protected from THAT DAY which others will not be protected from)
 
2 Peter 2:5,7,9 (ESV)
5  if he (God) did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly...  7  and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked...  9  then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly FROM (Not in) trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,
 
Revelation 3:10 (ESV)
10  Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you FROM (Not in) the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.
 
The Greek word used in BOTH of these verses for "From”  
Is the word,"ek"...  Meaning:
"Denoting action or motion from a point of origin...
Out of a place and time... From among... OUT..."
 
Thirdly, the Scroll which Jesus opens at the BEGINNING of the Tribulation...  Is a Scroll of Judgments for the earth!
So, as soon as the First Seal is broken...
God's Judgments have begun...
Affecting all creatures on earth…
THUS... We should be gone at that point!
Lastly… The Tribulation is a time of Jacob’s Trouble…
To awaken Israel to her rejection of Jesus!
We are not objects of His wrath and punishment!
Why make us out to be when He’s taken our wrath?!
 
SIX- In every instance the Snatching away of God's Saints is mentioned...
 
They do not speak of looking for a Great Tribulation first...
But as though it were imminent... At hand...
The next event...
Unexpectedly at any given moment... Listen!
 
Titus 2:13 (ESV)
13  waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
 
1 Thessalonians 5 (ESV)
1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers,  you have no need to have anything written to you.  2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night'.  3 While people are saying, "There is peace and security, "then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
 
Luke 17:26-35 (ESV)
26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.  27 They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.  28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot--they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building,  29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all--  30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed...
 
When Abraham bargained with God over Sodom…
God said He would spare it for even 10!
Then cleared every last one before wrath!
 
Consider Jesus' parables of when He arrives to take His people Home!
Have you ever been expecting a loved one home from a trip...
And it's very late at night?
What do you do? (Leave a light on for them!)
Remember the Ten Virgins awaiting the Bridegroom?  (Matt 25:1-12)
They too... Had left a light on for their Loved One...
But they slumbered and slept as the Bridegroom tarried!
Going about life as usual!
With no mention of wrath or judgment to escape!
(Compare 7 days of consecration and celebration in wedding!)
 
How about the, "Faithful Servants" parable?
 
Luke 12:37-38, 40, 45-46 (ESV)
37  Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes... 38  If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants... 40  You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”... 45  But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46  the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful.
 
These servants were warned not to slumber as they waited for Christ to return...
They were warned to lose interest and begin to sin !
 DO YOU THINK ANYONE IN THE TRIBULATION COULD LOSE INTEREST AND SLUMBER WHILE LOOKING FOR THE LORD'S RETURN??!!
 
SEVEN- And lastly... Powerfully... Listen to this passage carefully!
 
2 Thessalonians 2:6-8 (ESV)
6 And you know what is restraining him (antichrist) now so that he may be revealed in his time.  7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.  8 And then the lawless one will be revealed...
 
Paul is saying BEFORE the Anti-Christ can begin to fool the multitudes and rise to power...
The ONE who restrains this spirit of lawlessness and deceit must be removed from the earth...
This is clearly the Holy Spirit of God!!
And WHOM does the Spirit live in today?  You and I!!
 
John 14:16 (ESV)
And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
 
If HE is IN US forever by Promise...
HIS Influence cannot be removed unless WE are removed!
BEFORE the Anti-Christ can fool the multitudes!
The Holy Spirit continues to work through the Tribulation convicting and saving sinners...
But He is gone as a Restraining Force of Knowledge and Power...
Through the mass removal of Christians at the start of the Tribulation!
 
I pray this gives some of you new found hope and excitement...So that you may be looking for the Return of your Bridegroom any day! Rather than dreading the Wrath of God to come! But realize this does not mean we are going to escape unscathed!
God Promises us that a great falling away is to occur before His Return And WE are seeing this all over the globe RIGHT NOW...As darker and darker times are coming upon us fast! And God says many WILL be hated and persecuted for His Name's Sake! If we COULD reveal an actual date of His Return....If we DID know...
What things would you like to be sure you do and experience before He comes?
I've heard many say they hope it is a while longer...So they can experience different things in life...
 
BUT STOP AND SERIOUSLY THINK ON THIS...If I had a date set to marry the absolute love of my life!! To finally share my life with them forever... Be with them!
And all I could think about were the things I would like to do WITHOUT them in my life before I HAD to get married!!!! Would you say that I truly had a PASSION to be with them?! Wouldn't a Bride waiting on the Big Day be excited? Expectant? Not regretful that they didn't have more time without Him in their lives! Not forgetful they were to be married soon!
 
Listen... Do not the things which become most important to you when you think you are out of time... Truly have precedence in your heart?!!
 
If we know that time is short... If we REALLY believe this...Rather than be concerned over what we still haven't experienced yet...WHY are we not worried over what HE is worried over? WHY are we not desperate to help others whom He loves? Rather than simply thinking about OUR LOSSES?!! Why are we not wanting to be about His Work...So He can find us striving to please the One we love when He Returns?!
 
Stop worrying over whether He is Coming today, next week, or years from now! Stop worrying over whether the Rapture or the Tribulation occurs first! Jesus simply and clearly said multiple times... Anticipate My Coming... And be about My Work!
Make every day count! Are we doing this? If not… That is ALL we need to be focused on! Because whether He comes soon or not…The world around us is lost, crazy, and headed for hell! And we should be working overtime to reach them…
Rather than worrying over getting one more pleasure in before we are out of time!!!
Do you think we will feel we have missed one single thing when we get There?Now… Just listen to what He will do…If He Returns and finds us serving HIM!
 
Luke 12:37 (ESV)
37  Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, HE will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and HE will come and serve them.
 
Can you possibly FATHOM what it would be like for the Master of the Universe...
To sit you down at a table...Put on a Servant's clothing...After just a Coming down as the King of a Kings…And Lord of Lords…With a Crown on a His Head, Fire in His Eyes…To snatch you from death!! And wait on you as you eat before Him? To serve you?! What a GOD!  What a Worthy Savior! Does that not make HIM worthy to be Served RIGHT NOW by US?! If we believe a Single Page in this BOOK...If we can see a single thing happening around us today...Not only must we know He is Coming Soon...But it should thrill our souls that we are about to meet THAT Bridegroom and Savior!! We should be wanting to serve and please Him with everything we do! We should realize more than ever...How little time many lost people have...How many are hurting and broken...
 
WE SHOULD SPEND OUR DAYS LEARNING MORE ABOUT HIM... SEEKING TO PLEASE HIM...
 
HOPING HE WILL CATCH US WORKING FOR HIM WHEN HE RETURNS...
 
JUST LIKE THE BRIDESMAIDS WAITING FOR HIM...
 
We need to get our Lamps burning...
We need to turn on the porch lights, house lights and flood lights!!
And make sure our Beloved knows we are expecting Him..                                                  
That we are looking for Him...
That we are EXCITED FOR HIS RETURN!
 
People… We need to change our hearts… Humble ourselves…
 
Our altars need to be filling up as we pray for strength...For loved ones... For our country...Rejection, judgment and distance from "those sinners"…Should be replaced with urgency and love for their lost souls! Pleasures and entertainment in this world ought to be decreased...To make room for drawing closer to Him and doing His Work!
 
2 Timothy 2:3-7 (ESV)
3  Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4  No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. 5  An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6  It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. 7  Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
 
And someday very soon my friends... If He catches us serving Him…We will be humbled and broken… As He serves US… Undeservedly!!