What to do while you wait sermon...

Here's this week's sermon. What to do while you wait.
About waiting on the Holy Spirit, and about the fruit of the Spirit.

God bless

Willy

Patience Sermon

Hello Everyone,

Here is the sermon for today, it's about patience, and being still and waiting on God.

God bless,

Willy

Jesus Is God Part 6

Here is the 6th part of the Jesus is God series.

Jesus is God parts 4 and 5

Hey Everyone,

Here're a couple more videos for you that I made today in the continuing series: "Jesus is God." This sermon-ette focuses on Jesus calling Himself the "Good Shepherd," an OT reference to Jehovah, God. Key verses are Psalm 23:1, Ezekiel 34:11, John 10:11, Matthew 25:32 and Matthew 26:31.

God bless and have a great day,

Willy

Jesus is God Part 3

Here is the third video that I made concerning the divinity of Christ.

I use the following Scripture passages:

"First & Last"

Isaiah 41:4

John 1;1 - 15
John 17:5
Revelation 1:8, 1:17-18

God bless and have a great day,

Willy

Jesus Is God Part 2

Hello Everyone,

Here is the second part of the first video. It uses the following scripture passages:


Genesis 28:13
Exodus 3:14
Isaiah 42:8

John 8:21-58
Mark 14:62
John 18:5-8
John 17:11

God bless,

Willy

Jesus Is God 1

Hello,

This is my first video concerning the Divinity of Christ.

The scripture passages that I used are the following:

Genesis 28:13
Exodus 3:14
Isaiah 42:8

John 8:21-58
Mark 14:62
John 18:5-8
John 17:11

God bless and have a great day,

Willy

Christmas Eve Devotional from 2009

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Christmas Eve Devotional

Hello, for those of you who are interested. I was asked to deliver the Christmas Eve Devotional at Pastor Dave Anderson's church Crosslands Community Church up near Shrub Oak, NY. They asked me if I would post it online so that people could check it out. If you live in the area, and don't have a church, Pastor Dave is a great guy, and has a wonderful family, and the church people are great. You can check out their website at www.crosslandscc.org.

Peace

My favorite Christmas song is “I heard the Bells on Christmas Day” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I especially like the part: “Then pealed the bells more loud and deep, God is not dead nor doth He sleep, the wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth goodwill to men.”
The angels brought the message to the Shepherds, “Peace on Earth; Goodwill to men.” As I was thinking about the song, I found that I too was feeling a bit cynical just like Longfellow was at the start of the song. It seems like there are a lot of things that contradict the message of peace on earth. Every time I look at the news, all I see is war and strife, marriages falling apart, hearts being broken, government troubles, death, countries around the world at war with each other, the list is endless. It’s easy to wonder why if God told the angels that the good news was about peace on earth, why isn’t there any peace on earth, and why is it that I have so little peace a lot of the time in my heart?
Why is peace so hard to maintain?
But as I was thinking about this, I didn’t get a revelation in the same way that Longfellow did by being reminded of the words of the carols the bells were tolling, but I did almost immediately envision an image of an orchid. It came to me that peace is a lot like an orchid. Orchids are one of the most temperamental flowers. Orchids need a certain type of light, soil, water, and temperature or they die. They require constant cultivation. In an article entitled “Caring for Orchids,” at articlesbase.com, I found this:
Orchids are beautiful, exotic plants that are temperamental, but can be successfully grown indoors as a decorative houseplant. Orchids are not that complicated, and if you understand caring for orchids and their needs you can grow these exotic and beautiful plants.

Orchids will thrive in your ordinary home environment if given the proper potting bark, right amount of water, proper amount of sunlight and fertilizer occasionally.
I found this part particularly interesting in light of the drought that it seems like I’ve been going though lately.
Orchids usually grow on the trunks and branches of trees. This means that their roots are used to drying out before being given water again. When growing one of these plants in your home, you should let the potting bark dry out completely before watering.
So as a side note, it seems that there is some connection between the drought that the Orchid goes through, and their beauty. And as Christians we are often called on to experience suffering before we experience God’s joy. I Peter 5 says that we will suffer for a little while and then God will restore, support and strengthen us, and set us on a firm foundation. This has been a cause for joy for me lately, as I cling to the fact that the suffering I endure is only temporary.
True Joy comes from understanding our relationship with God. Happiness often comes from our situation. But peace seems to be more elusive. It could just be my Midwestern roots, but finding peace is extremely difficult for me. I was raised from the time I was a little kid to prepare for the worst. Never go out with a light jacket, but wear many layers, that way you can take off layers as needed. You can never trust the weather. Just because it started out as a 60 degree beautiful sunny day in June, doesn’t mean that it won’t be snowing by 3 in the afternoon. (That actually happened to me one time when I was helping my dad dig a ditch for a water line.) You just can’t trust these things. People in Indiana have proverbs like: “Never get your hopes up, and then you will never be disappointed.” Very practical advice.
Or how about this example, when I was a kid my front yard butted into US 40, one of the busiest highways in Indiana, so it seems my mom’s solution was to never let us go outside and then we wouldn’t be hit by a car. Until we heard about people a few miles down the road who were sitting in their living room and a truck slammed into the front of their house ripping off half of it. I don’t know how you prepare for that situation. I guess my mom would say, “you think ahead and move.” The way people worry in the Midwest reminds me of the movie “What about Bob?” Bob was afraid that his bladder would burst in public. He believed that if he faked a heart attack he wouldn’t have one.
Yes, there is a point that I’m meandering towards. The interesting point that I’m trying to make is that though I’m talking about peace, worry also seems to require constant cultivation.
Peace requires constant cultivation. If they both require constant cultivation, which plant do we want to cultivate, the Poison Ivy of Worry, or the Orchid of Peace? The two are mutually exclusive. They can’t exist in the same space. They’re like matter and anti-matter, they destroy each other.
Jesus said many times, let not your heart be troubled. Or in another translation Do not let your hearts be troubled. Elsewhere we are warned to guard our hearts.
There was the old Latin term Pax Romana. The Roman Peace. This was an enforced peace of a dominating power over all would-be usurpers, kept in place with torments such as flogging, crucifixion, public burnings at the stake, public executions for entertainment purposes and the threat of slavery for miscreants.
It’s an interesting phrase Jesus used. Do not let your heart be troubled. He didn’t say, your heart will be troubled, so pray and it will go away. He didn’t say, your heart is already troubled, so do a whole bunch of good things so you don’t have to worry. No what he said was, “Let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God. Believe also in me.” Our belief will provide the peace we need.
How easy it is to look at the situation around us and let our peace be stolen away. Peter looked at the waves, and his peace was taken, and he began to sink. David began to look at a beautiful woman, and ultimately his peace was taken away. The Israelites looked at the Giants in the land and their peace was taken. I find that sometimes it seems so much easier to just believe in the circumstance and the situation than to believe in Jesus.
It’s interesting to note here that the opposite of peace is fear. Those who live in war-torn countries are often said to “live in fear,” for their lives, for tomorrow, etc., they live in constant fear. When I was a kid, and the Russians were going to blow us all to kingdom come, we all lived in fear. Do you remember that? Remember being told how to hide under a desk? Like that would do anything against a nuclear bomb!
When I was a kid, I remember people almost worshiping Ronald Reagan when the Berlin wall came down. The greatest fear of our lives was over. We didn’t have to worry about being nuked anymore. I remember before the fall of the wall, I read a book about Spetsnaz, the Russian special forces, and how tough and mean they were. It was said that when Spetsnaz interrogated people they used a file to file down their prisoners teeth until they got the information they wanted. When the wall fell, I almost couldn’t believe that these tough guys would go away so easily. Surely, people that mean and dangerous wouldn’t just cave in because they weren’t getting paid to be mean and nasty anymore? Who would have thought that a force so strong could be destroyed by lack of money? But there you go, these Spetsnaz guys cared more about getting a paycheck than they did about fighting Americans. So no more Cold War.
And finally after thousands of years of turmoil, we had peace. Right?
But peace didn’t last long. We let our hearts be troubled, as a world, and found new conflicts to worry about.
I hope I am making the point and showing how fragile peace actually is? This is why Jesus warned us. You believe in God, believe also in Me, he said. How is it that believing in Him brings this peace? Many people who are not Christians claim to believe in God. But that God is distant and impersonal. In fact, many people don’t want a God that knows them too well, or at least they don’t want to think about God that way. They don’t want God knowing their most hidden evil. Somehow anyone who believes in God, when pushed, deep down knows that God is holy, and not happy with their evil parts. This is why Jesus took his phrase a step further. You can believe in God and not have peace. But believe also in Me, He said. Why? Because knowing Jesus, knowing that He knows you intimately, and yet loves you anyway, is the first step to peace.
Let not your hearts be troubled. When you believe that Jesus loves you, and when you focus on the fact that the Creator of everything, who spoke and entire worlds sprang into existence, out of nothing, who caused baskets of food to multiply out of just a few fish and bread, who caused so much fish to be caught by the disciples that it almost destroyed their nets, who was able to make Himself fit into the body of a virgin, and then be born, go to the cross to die and then come back to life again, who could walk through walls, walk across water, ascend into heaven, and has promised to come back again for us… when you believe that this amazing Being LOVES you, and you focus on that, then peace is the automatic response.
Take a breath, relax. Don’t let your heart be troubled. Let peace swell up in your heart. Things may be hard, but He is in control. Let peace grow inside of you.
That’s why the angels said Peace on Earth. Will there ever really be peace? No, not until Jesus returns. He said so. Is He contradicting the message that He told the angels to proclaim about Himself? No. Where is that peace, is it between evil men who war to possess things that really don’t matter anyway? No, it’s in our hearts when we focus on who He is and believe in Him. It can only come that way, which is why He is the Prince of Peace.
I went to a Quaker school, and Quakers are big on peace. But I never understood from their perspective the passage where Jesus says He didn’t come to bring peace, but He came to bring a sword. Most of the Quakers I knew tended to avoid that passage. But I think what Jesus was saying was that He would be just another excuse for earthy men to war over. I mean look at the Irish, Protestants and Catholics both warring over the name of Jesus. But even in the lives of sincere dedicated Christians, there is lack of peace. When someone comes to Christ, people around that person will not be happy about it. It will cause tension, it will cause strife. But it causes strife in the same way that a doctor does when they have to cut out an infection or tumor. It is painful at first, but afterwards, there is healing.
The peace of Christ comes from within, and is not a Pax Romana. It does not come from without. There is no nuclear bomb anywhere that even comes close to the power of Christ. Liam asked a few nights ago if all the superheroes put all of their powers together would they be as powerful as Jesus. No, they wouldn’t. Why, because Jesus is the ultimate power inside and outside of the universe. All power is derived from Him, and returns to Him. So if anyone could enforce a type of Pax Romana, it would be Jesus. Yet He chooses not to. Notice I said, Chooses, not to.
He has ordained that peace is not something that comes from trusting in our environment. It is not something that automatically comes with the Joy that we have from being set free from sin. It is not something that comes from having stability bought by wealth. It is not something that comes from our knowledge of the Bible. It only comes from actively BELIEVING in Jesus. We can know a lot about the Bible, Satan does, but he has no peace. We can be happy all day long that we’re saved, but if we don’t believe that Jesus is more powerful than our situation, we will lose heart and lose our peace when a trial comes along. We can have our environment and our wealth shaken and we would lose our peace, if we are trusting in those things to give us peace. The only way to have peace and to keep it is by focusing constantly on Jesus.
Longfellow brings up an odd phrase to ponder. “The wrong shall fail, the right prevail with peace on earth goodwill to men.” According to Longfellow, The Right must fight to maintain peace. This is essentially what he is saying by using the word “prevail.” While this is a strange thing to say when talking about pace, it is nevertheless true. We have to fight off all the things that would distract us from focusing on Jesus; from believing in Him. We have to fight off all of the things that want to choke out our peace. We must continue to cultivate the delicate orchid of peace in our hearts.
How do we do that?
Well, I would say that we need to continue doing the things that are good for us. We should pray, sing, read our Bibles, fast, give, serve, or any of the many other things that we can do. But we need to be careful that these things don’t become a list of do’s and don’ts, or regulations to fit in with God. These things are tools that we can use to bring our attention back to Jesus and His love for us and for those around us.
So this Christmas, when you hear the phrase “Peace on Earth,” remember where that peace comes from. Believe in Jesus and experience that peace in your hearts. When the trials of the New Year arise, continue to believe in Him, and continue to cultivate peace in your heart.

Divinity of Christ Sermon

Today I preached at the local Interfaith Apartments, and gave the first of a series about the divinity of Jesus Christ. Here are the notes, and the video in two parts of the sermon.

Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Doctor Benjamin Rush dated April 21, 1803 from Washington D.C.- "I am a Christian, in the only sense he (Jesus) wished any one to be; sincerely attached to his doctrines, in preference to all others; ascribing to himself every human excellence; and believing he never claimed any other."

C. S. Lewis in Mere Christianity pg 55-56 - "I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't acept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would rather be a lunatic - on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell."


Part 1: Jesus Claimed to Be Equal with God using OT references to God.

1. "I Am" (Yahweh/Jehovah) - Exodus 3:14 compare with John 8:21-58, Mark 14:62, John 18:5-8

2. "First and Last" - Isa. 42:8 compare with John 1:1, John 17:5 and Revelation 1:17
3. "Good Shepherd" - Psalm 23:1, Ezekiel 34:11 compare with John 10:11, Matt  25:32 and Matthew 26:31
4. "Judge" - Joel 3:21 and Deut 32:35 compare with Matthew 25:31 and John 5:27
5. "Bridegroom" - Isa. 62:5 and Hosea 2:16 compare to Matt 9:15, 25:1-10, Mark 2:19, Luke 5:34 and John 3:29
6. "The Lord is Light" - Psalm 27:1 compare to John 8:12

I only covered the first point in today's sermon.

God bless,

Willy

Rapture And Harold Camping

Hello Everyone,

As a pastor, I feel that I need to address the false teacher Harold Camping. I don't understand why anyone would continue to listen to Mr. Camping after his other failed attempts to pinpoint the exact date and time of the rapture. Jesus was very clear in Matthew 24 that before He returns there will be many false prophets who rise up. ^{Matt. 24:23} “Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. ²⁴ For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. ²⁵ See, I have warned you about this ahead of time." (NLT)

Again in the same passage Jesus told us that no one can know the day or the hour:   ^{Matt. 24:36} “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself.^[k] Only the Father knows." (NIV) 


However, Jesus said we should know the season. If you get a chance please read over Matthew 24. Pay close attention to verse 29 which specifically states that the second coming will happen after the anguish of the last days. This points to what would be called a post-tribulation rapture. So not only is Mr. Camping wrong in naming dates and hours when Jesus will return, but he is also wrong in thinking that the rapture will happen before all of the signs that Jesus mentioned are fulfilled. I feel bad for those people who quit their jobs and gave him all of their money.

The following is a summary of passages that I have been studying about the Rapture and the Second Coming and why I believe that the Rapture will be Post-Trib. Some of these arguments are made by other people around the web, but I expanded and added some of my own thoughts to them as well. There were several websites that I searched also in studying this, and the only that I could find today was http://www.bcbsr.com/survey/rapture_proofs.html?vm=r. But if you do a search for "Post Trib Rapture" I'm sure you will be able to find a lot. 

15 Point Proof for a Post Tribulation Rapture

 Part 1: Pre-Trib Arguments Debunked

 1.    Argument: In Rev. 4:1 God tells John to “come up.” The literal word is “Ek” in Greek, used in Revelation 4:1, 18:4 and elsewhere, and it literally means “out from.” Therefore, the rapture must be before the tribulation because they are being drawn out from the Tribulation, and out from the earth. Rebuttal: This does not necessarily mean a literal taking away from the earth. It could go along with Rev. 12:13 where it says there will be a safe place in the desert to be safe through the Tribulation. See below point 11 for more information.

2.    Argument: Rev. 3:10 Jesus said that He will “…keep you from the hour of Trial.” Therefore, Christians will be raptured out of the Tribulation. Rebuttal: Greek of this can also be translated instead of “Keep you from” as “Keep you through.” In John 17:11 and 15, it is translated as “keep you through” in many translations. Daniel in the lion’s den, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Noah and Lot are all examples of being “kept through” their trials. 

3.    Argument: Lot was taken out of Sodom and Noah was taken out of the Flood so we will be taken out of the Tribulation. (See Luke 17:26-30) Rebuttal: First of all, Noah was NOT taken out of the Flood. He had to ride around in an Ark, with only a few inches or at the most feet of wood separating him from the dead bodies of everyone he preached to during his time building the Ark. Noah endured through the Flood and was saved because of God’s direct intervention (i.e. God explained to him how to build the Ark.). Likewise with Lot. Also, Lot was in the general vicinity of the destruction of Sodom. He barely escaped with his life, and his wife did not escape with her life. In the Luke passage mentioned above, the disciples asked where the people would be taken and Jesus told them to look among the dead bodies and where the vultures gather. This could be referring to the evil people, if compared with Matt 24: 37-44. However, it could also show that there will be many martyrs before His return, as demonstrated by Revelation 20, 12 and 7. Also, see next point about Tribulation and God’s Wrath.

4.    Argument: Jesus said in Luke 21:36 that we are to “…pray that you will escape God’s wrath.” Therefore, we will be delivered from God’s Wrath, i.e. the Tribulation, by the Rapture. Rebuttal: Praying and having a relationship with God is how we will escape, all Christians believe this. However, the Tribulation is not God’s wrath. The Tribulation is Satan’s wrath against the Church. As we see in the book of Joel, “The Day of the Lord” is God’s wrath. (See point 12 for more info about this.) According to 1 Thess. 5:2 we see that the Rapture is one of the events of the “Day of the Lord.” We also see in Joel that there are several things that the evil people do, such as warring against God’s people, marching against the Messiah when He returns, etc.,  that agree with everything that happens during the Tribulation as described in the NT. So we can clearly see that the Tribulation is not God’s wrath. It is a time of testing for the church, to be sure, but not His wrath against His people. Saints will escape God’s wrath but only because they endured through Satan’s wrath, a.k.a. the Tribulation.

5.    Argument: But God is loving, and would not hurt His children. Rebuttal: Martyrdom. Deut 4:36, 11:2, Job 5:17, Ps 39:11, Ps 94:12, Prov. 3:11.

6.    Argument: in 1 Thess. 4:16-18 we are told to encourage each other about Christ’s Second Coming, but talking about having to endure the Tribulation is not encouraging. Rebuttal: This passage is talking about how to cope with grief and death when we lose loved ones. We encourage each other because we know that if we endure and continue to follow God in spite of the horrors we have to endure (similar to the horrors the early church was enduring at the hands of Rome) we will be reunited with our loved ones when Christ does return.

7.    Argument: After Revelation 4:1, we do not read about “the Church” anymore. God said to John, “come up here,” which symbolizes the pre-Trib rapture. So since the church is not mentioned after God tells John to come up, the church must be raptured Pre-Trib. Rebuttal: The church is made up of “saints,” another term synonymous with the church throughout the entire NT. We see the word “saints” a lot after 4:1. (See: 13:7, 13:10, Rev. 14:9-12, Mt 24: 15-25 and Dan. 7:25.) Also, this could simply mean that under the authority of the Antichrist, assembling for worship, the main identifying mark of the “church,” has become outlawed. Which makes sense, when you see that if one does not receive his “mark” the penalty is execution. 

8.    Argument: The church will depart before the Antichrist is revealed. (2 Thess. 2:7,8) Rebuttal: Read 2 Thess. 2:3. It specifically states that the Antichrist must be revealed first before the Second Coming. This teaching is completely unbiblical, and heretical, because it outright contradicts the preceding verses specifically.

9.    Argument: Christ’s Return is Imminent. Matthew 24:44 says that He will come unexpectedly. If He was coming when we expected it (i.e. Post-Trib) it would not be unexpected. Rebuttal: Why did Jesus warn his disciples about this if He didn’t want them to be looking for it and expecting it? The mere fact that He’s teaching about it means that He wants the Church to expect it. He means that the World won’t expect it. He wouldn’t be giving us signs to watch for if we weren’t to expect it. In Matthew 24 Jesus gives the parable of the fig tree to show us that we might not know the day or the hour, but we can tell the season, and just like we can have a good idea that the fruit is ripe enough to eat, so we will have a good idea of the "season" when  Jesus will actually return. See Matthew 24:29-30 for more about this. This passage shows that the prophesy of Joel concerning the moon, stars and sun turning black must happen first so believers will expect His coming. Christ’s return is not imminent in the sense that many people believe, that it could happen at any moment. There are very specific prophesies that MUST be fulfilled before this. I was a Christian and Missionary Alliance pastor for many years, and it was in our statement of faith. But our founder, A.B. Simpson even pointed to Matthew 24 and said that Jesus wouldn't return until the gospel had been preached in every nation. How can Jesus be coming at ANY moment if the gospel had not been preached in ever nation yet. It is a strange contradiction that I never got a clear answer to. This statement should probably be removed, or at least edited, from every Christian church that includes it, such as the C&MA, the Southern Baptists and many other evangelical church that includes it in their statements of faith. See Daniel 9:25-27. This says that the Temple must be built first and half way through the Tribulation, the AC will break his treaty with Israel, set up the “Abomination that causes Desolation” (that Jesus speaks of in Matthew 24) for 3 and a half years. See also Daniel 11:31-32. In Daniel 12:11 he says the very end will be 3.5 years after these things happen. In Matthew 24:15-25 Jesus said that the Tribulation was cut back so that there would be survivors. Survivors for what? He gives the answer in 24:30; His Second Coming. And Survivors from what? Obviously there had to be something they were surviving.  The Second Coming is the capstone that signals the very end, so it cannot happen 7 years before the end.  And since the Rapture is preceded by a Great Devastation that some would survive, it makes sense that the only event causing such devastation mentioned in Scripture is the Tribulation. Therefore, the Rapture has to be after the Tribulation.     

More Points of Information About Post Tribulation Rapture

10. Both 1 Thess. 4:15-17 and 1 Cor. 15:20-23 specifically say that the Rapture is at Christ’s Second coming. 2 Thess. 2 specifically states that the early church will be Raptured at the Second Coming. Matthew 24:29-31 as well as Mark 13:24-27 specifically says that the Second Coming happens after the Tribulation. Therefore, the Rapture cannot occur Pre-Trib.

11.  The Rapture has to happen AFTER the “Apostasia,” or Great Falling Away mentioned in 2 Thess. 2 and in Matthew 24:10. Also, Jesus mentions the Antichrist in that passage, which shows that he will be on the scene at that time. Daniel 7:25 says the Antichrist fights and defeats Israel (or possibly the saints, or both, if compared to Revelation 12) for 3.5 years. Daniel says here that all End Time events will be completed after that final 3.5 years. Revelation 12:13 says there will be a place of safety prepared for “her” (either the church or Israel) in the Desert (not heaven), out of the Antichrist’s reach. Remember that Satan and the Antichrist are not divine and are not omnipresent. They take up a specific place both in material and in the spiritual realms. So there could be a place on earth that they cannot reach and effect. After Matthew 24:10 Jesus speaks of the Gathering (a.k.a. the Rapture) in 24:31. Also, Daniel says that the final kingdom will be one of “iron and clay” which shows that there are very strong parts of the kingdom, but also some very weak parts. No one has ever been able to sustain a completely totalitarian reign in history, not even Hitler or Stalin. Therefore, there must be some places where people will be able to hide or be safe.

12.  The “Day of the Lord,” mentioned in 1 Thess. 5:2, is associated with the Rapture. 1 Thess. 4:16-17 corresponds to Joel 2:31 which says the darkening of the Sun, Moon and Stars precede the Day of the Lord. In Acts 2, Peter applies this passage to the Church. Also in 2 Thess. 2:2 and 3, it says the Antichrist must be revealed first before the Day of the Lord. All the events of the Day of the Lord mentioned in Joel are associated with Christ’s actions when He returns to set things right. He does not return just to get us, He returns to subjugate the entire world under His rule so He can turn it over to His Father. See 1 Cor. 15:25. This passage that says Christ must reign until all things are subjected under Him. It is in a tense that implies that there will be a long term period of conquering everything, which explains why there is a 1,000 year reign and then a final rebellion of Satan. (See Revelation 20:7-10) It also explains why it seems that, in several passages, including Joel and Isaiah 19, there are a group of people who were not believers coming up to pay homage to Christ who are not transformed saints. It also explains why the Jews won’t come to know Christ until He returns. They will be His people, but they will have Saints that are their governors, leaders, etc. This also coincides with Matthew 25:31-33 which states clearly that the same day that we are Raptured is the same day when Jesus returns to destroy the wicked. Some would argue that “Day of the Lord” does not mean a literal 24 hour day, and this may be true, but they are also often the same people who like to argue that “Day” in Genesis 1:5 is a literal 24 hour day. It would seem that a day is a day and the “Day of the Lord,” literally means the very day He returns.  

13. 1 Cor. 15:51-53 says that the Rapture happens at the time of the Last Trumpet. Matthew 24: 29-31 says that there is a Trump sounded to signify the end of the Tribulation (i.e. the Last Trump). The Rapture cannot happen before this Trump, otherwise it wouldn’t be the “Last” Trump, therefore, since the “Last Trump” signifies both the End of the Tribulation and the Rapture, not to mention it also signifies Christ’s Second Coming, it shows that these three events happen at the same time, thus disproving yet again a Pre-Trib Rapture point of view. This all coincides with what Jesus said in John 6:39, 40, 44 and 54 that He would raise us up on the “Last” day, not 7 years or 3.5 years before.

14.  Revelation 20:4-6 shows that the 1^st Resurrection is after the Tribulation. We know this because it includes Tribulation martyrs as well as others who refused to worship the Beast or his image, or take his mark. During the tribulation there can be no resurrection of the dead saints at a pre-trib Rapture before the 1^st Resurrection, or else Paul and the early church wouldn’t be included in that number, but we see in 2 Thess. 2 that Paul anticipated being there, therefore the Pre-Trib Rapture, as well as a Mid-Trib Rapture is impossible. (See also Rev 12:11 and Rev 7:9-17).

15.  “Thief In The Night” is associated with a Post-Trib Rapture. 1 Thess. 4 and 5 associate “Thief in the Night” with the “Day of the Lord.” There is no evidence anywhere in Scripture of two “Thief in the Night” experiences, both taking people by surprise. If the first “Thief in the Night” experience happened it would alert people of the second “Thief in the Night” experience. In Matt 24 the only reference is linked to a Post Trib Rapture. Also see above about the fact that the Church is not to be taken by surprise, but have been warned in several places to be “watching” and “alert.”

If you are reading this and are strongly Pre-Trib. I hope that you will not get offended and write off my arguments without first examining the Scriptures to see if I am wrong. I also want to thank the other people out there, though I can't remember all of your sites, who discuss these things as well. I feel that the Pre-Trib doctrine will be a stumbling block for many Christians that will be part of the Great Falling Away when they realize sadly that events didn't happen the way they were taught by the Left Behind stories. And thus, will give up on their faith in Christ and in His return. Just like there will be many people who were wrapped up in Harold Camping's false teaching that will give up their faith because of the bitterness over selling all of their possessions and losing their jobs. I can guarantee you that he will not be hiring all of those people to work for his company at the rate of pay they were making before they quit their jobs. 

I hope that something in here was helpful to you. Please feel free to pass this information on to anyone who might need it.

God bless,

Willy 

Cloud & Pillar - Following God In The Wilderness

Hello Everyone,

i have been thinking about posting my sermons and bible studies for a while, and if yoou are reading this, and checking out this blog, I hope that God will use it to help you navigate through this cloudy time period that we have entered.

I believe that the end of time is at hand, and that Jesus is going to come back soon. I  believe that the Tribulation is near, and we as Christians need to turn from our evil, and prepare for His coming. We need to cling to Him in these final days and finish this race strong. Yet, it seems that the church today is just limping along. Please, join me in praying for the church and that the people in it will separate themselves from the world and start living a holy life.

God bless,

Willy