Pre-Tribulation Rapture Part V

THESSALONIANS WERE MISGUIDED.

A letter was purportedly received by Thessalonians as from Apostle Paul, misguiding them that the Lord's Day had already come. Apostle Paul clears this misapprehension in the minds of Thessalonians that such a day will not come unless there be falling away first, and the 'man of sin', who is also called, the 'son of perdition' sits in the temple of God, proclaiming himself as God, and calling for worshippers to worship him. This 'man of sin', who is also the 'son of perdition' is not yet revealed and such revealing will be done by God, at an appropriate time, which is known to Him only. This 'man of sin', is called the Wicked, whom the Lord shall consume 'with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with brightness of his coming' (2 Thess. 2:1-12). The children of Israel have not received the 'Son of God', the love of truth, and for this reason, God will make them believe that this 'man of sin' is their savior.  But when they realize that the 'man of sin', who promised them peace, happiness and prosperity breaks covenant that he promised, then will the children of Israel will call upon the living God to have mercy on them.

The 'man of sin' opposes exalting himself above all and sits in the temple at Jerusalem proclaiming himself as God. The followers of Antichrist with deceivable nature and unrighteousness would ultimately perish because they would have refused to accept the truth and opposed it in his time.

"And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie" (2 Thessalonians 2:11)

The Church would have already been with the Lord in the mid-air by the time this 'man of sin' is revealed. Obviously Thessalonians received a false letter from someone who taught them that the day of judgment of God was near or the end of the world was near. Indeed such a day would not come until Antichrist is revealed first, and this revealing of Antichrist will not be until the Holy Spirit is taken away from this world. Paul comforted them in a questioning tone that they will be in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming again; and that they are the symbols of joy and glory of Paul, Silvanius and Timothy who wrote the epistle to the Thessalonians. Apostle Paul exhorted Thessalonians to recollect about the message of salvation that he proclaimed earlier to them and how that they received the message as the truth and as the word of God rather than as the message from men.  That message of God effectually worked in them and they believed. Paul pointed to them those in the regions of Judea who always opposed and persecuted the men carrying the messages of God and how they opposed instead of honoring God. They opposed Paul when he spoke of the Gospel of God to the Gentiles and they feared that the Gentiles would be saved and would take away their portion of blessings from God. Paul told them that wrath of God rests on them for the opposition that they caused. Indeed, Paul desired to visit them but he was hindered from some reason which he called as "Satan hindered us".

"Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us". (1 Thessalonians 2:18)

It is because the Holy Spirit is with us to convict of sin and protect us from falling into sin that we are not leaving Jesus. Every time we face a temptation God shows us alternate way to escape from sin. No sin is greater than the way that God provides to escape from it.

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it". (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Satan would easily take control of our lives if only the Holy Spirit would not help us to be firm in the Lord. But in those days when the Holy Spirit is taken away from this world evil will be rampant and it would be very easy for a person to fall into sin. That will be the time of Antichrist and he takes pleasure in misguiding people and causes abomination of desolation. Lord Jesus spoke of this abomination of desolation in Matthew 24:15

"When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)".

At the end of Great Tribulation the Lord shall descend along with the Church on the mount of Olives. The Lord will consume this Antichrist with the spirit of his mouth and will destroy with the brightness of his coming.(1 Thessalonians 2:13-20 and 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12). We, the believers in Christ will be with the Lord for ever and ever.

Finally we may comfort one another with Apostle Paul's words:
"Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work". (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17)

The following five judgments are seen in the Scriptures:

(1) The Judgment at the cross (John 5:24)
(2) The Judgment in the mid-air for distribution of rewards for saints: (Also called as �Bema seat of Christ�. (2 Cor. 5:10)
(3) The judgment of Jews and left-behind (Great Tribulation- Matt 24:20-21
(4)The judgment of nations (also known as 'The Sheep and Goat Judgment)
(5) The Judgment of the Wicked

THE JUDGMENT AT THE CROSS

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life�h. (John 5:24)

It all started with Adam and Eve committing sin in the Garden of Eden, when they both ate the forbidden fruit and bringing sin not only on them, but also on the entire humanity. After the creation is ended 'God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed'. (Genesis 2:8) The first desire from God was that Adam should dress Garden of Eden and keep it, and then God commanded him that he is permitted to eat freely from every fruit, but he shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. �The punishment God detailed for violating his command was that in the day that he eats from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he shall surely die. God said that it is not good that the man should be alone; therefore he decided to give him a help met for him. God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and while he was asleep God took one of the ribs and closed up the flesh. This is the first sleep that God caused upon man in his divine power. That sleep was different from the sleep man would have every night.�@ It was the deep sleep that God caused upon man.�@ When Adam rose from that deep sleep he saw that the Lord gave him a woman as help mate. God had made Woman from the rib that He took it out of the man. When the woman was brought to the Adam, he called her Woman. They were both naked. As they lived happily the serpent tricked Woman to yield to the temptation on false hopes, and the Woman saw that 'the tree was good for food and pleasant to the eyes'. The Woman took the fruit from the tree and not only she ate it, but she also gave it to her husband and he ate it too. They saw that they were naked and 'they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons'.

Later on God questioned them and punished them when each of them tried to blame the other. God made coats of skins and clothed Adam and his wife and sent them away from the Garden of Eden. �@ Adam called his wife, Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

The sin that these two brought into the world was not such an easy one to be wiped out unless Jesus the Son of God came into this world and took upon Himself the sin of the world, that whosoever believes in him shall be saved. � The curse of 'death' that Adam had reaped upon himself and the whole humanity can be overcome only with the belief in Jesus as one's personal savior. Jesus said that whoever hears his word, and believes on him that sent him, has everlasting life and will not come into condemnation but will pass from death unto life. This is the first judgment when the sin is judged upon the cross and redemption is made available for man.

(2)THE JUDGMENT IN THE MID-AIR FOR DISTRIBUTION OF REWARDS FOR SAINS: (Also called as �eBema seat of Christ�f)

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:10)

Every believer has to account for the deeds he has done on this earth in order to receive the rewards at the 'Bema seat of Christ' He shall stand at the judgment seat of Christ also known as 'Bema Seat of Christ' not as an unbeliever to receive judgment for punishment, but for rewards he is entitled for working for the Lord.�@ During the period of time when the believer is with the Lord and after the rapture, the Lord will honor his servants for the service they rendered unto Him when they were on this earth.�@ We are not to judge our brothers because we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ (Rom.14:10). The time will come when the Lord comes and He brings to the light every hidden things of darkness, and will show the counsels that have taken place in the hearts. While God does this in the presence of every believer at the judgment seat of Christ every man will praise God (1 Cor.4:5)�@ Lord Jesus Christ is our life and He will appear in the clouds in glory to receive His own unto Himself and honor them with rewards.�@ It is not the Great white Throne judgment, when those, who have not believed in Him, will be judged for their everlasting destiny in the lake of fire along with the Satan and his angels, but the judgment seat of Christ is the raised seat where He sits as the King of kings to administer justice. There shall be no condemnation for the believers, who are in Christ, and who have not walked after the flesh, but sought to walk after the Spirit. (Rom 8:1). God was in Christ and reconciled us unto Himself, and made us, who have trusted in Him, and confessed our sins to Him, as his heirs and did not impute our trespasses unto us, but washed our sins in the precious blood of Jesus. We are His workmanship, created in Christ unto good works and we stand worthy of our calling and deserve our rewards at the 'Bema Seat of Christ'. It is a blessed hope for believer that he will be honored for putting on Christ and for living holy life. It is at this time, when we, the believers are with the Lord, that we will be rewarded before He reveals Himself on this earth again.

(3) The judgment of Jews and left-behind (Great Tribulation- Matt 24:20-21)

Caught in their disbelief Jews have always been waiting for Messiah to come from an earthly King's family. This disbelief in the Messiah, who was their real King, has led them to reject Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, as their Savior. Just as a hen gathers her chicken under her wings, God yearned to gather the children of Israel, the blessed generation through, Jesus, who was born in their clan, of the virgin Mary from the lineage of King David, but they not only rejected Him, but also killed prophets and stoned them, who were sent to them. The rejected the true Messiah, Lord Jesus Christ even to the extent that Jesus, who answered a woman, that He was sent unto the lost sheep of Israel, was not received by them. But, when the woman, a gentile, who was praying that her daughter be healed by Him, crying, "O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil." (Matt 15:22), and had faith in Him saying, "Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table". (Matt 15:27), Jesus had compassion on her and granted answer to her prayer. A gentile received because Jews rejected Him. Apostle Paul writes about this mystery that is revealed in the New Testament about God accepting Gentiles in to the Church. (Ephesians 3:3-9). The Church consisting of individual members, who have accepted Jesus as their Savior, are therefore, given the privilege over the Jews, and they are 'caught up' when the Lord himself 'shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord'. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). The unbelieving Jews and all others, who have not accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior will enter into the 70th week of Daniel, as prophesied in Daniel 9:26,27. Those, who are saved, will be with the Lord, when all others, who are not saved that includes the Jews will left- behind to be under the reign of Antichrist. While the believers are happy with the Lord, and receive their rewards for their good works done on the earth, the unbelievers will be under the reign of Antichrist, who promises them earthly peace, pomp, honor, and wealth. In the middle of the last week (70th week), that is after completion of 3.5 years, their king, the Antichrist, will break the covenant that he made with them, and then will start the 'great tribulation'. It is at this time that the Jews as prophesied will call upon God to have mercy on them, and God will come their rescue, and every one of them will be saved. Immediately after the tribulation of those days 'great tribulation' are over, 'the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall away from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken'. (Matthew 24:29).