Tag Archives: tribulation

There is coming a day (Matthew 24:29-31) June 5, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Galatians 4-6

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 24:29-31
Jesus: And as the prophets have foretold it: after the distress of those days,

The sun will grow dark,
and the moon will be hidden.
The stars will fall from the sky,
and all the powers in the heavens will be dislodged and shaken from their places.

That is when the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. All the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming; they will see Him powerful and glorious, riding on chariots of clouds in the sky. With a loud trumpet call, He will send out battalions of heavenly messengers; and they will gather His beloved faithful elect from the four corners of creation, from one end of heaven to the other.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

What an incredible day that will be. Song writers pen marvelous lyrics about that day. The music is always upbeat, uplifting, exciting. It makes your heart beat a little faster and puts a smile on your face. It reminds you that Jesus is coming back to retrieve His bride, the church, from this wicked world and take us to live with Him for eternity.

But it will be a sad day, too. Jesus will come and many will find themselves on the wrong side of His grace. His battalions of heavenly messengers will gather the faithful, but those who are not of that number will be left behind. Books and messages and songs have been written about those, too. Those songs are not so uplifting, so beautiful, so exciting and upbeat. Those are somber, dreadful, dreary songs and books and messages.

But the truth is that many will see God’s messengers sweep across the world to take His children home, but as much as they plead to be taken along, it will be too late. Time will have ended. The opportunity to receive His grace and forgiveness will have passed. The judgment of all mankind will have begun. The awful Day of the Lord will by on us.

At one time I hoped to live to see the day when Jesus returns. I don’t think I want to see that anymore. As I see all the evil and carnage that man can level against man, that is enough to shake me to the core. But as I read the descriptions of the end times and all the things that happen just leading up to the tribulation, the birth pangs that show it is coming, I really don’t want to go through those times.

Then if all those things, the wars, the famine, the earthquakes, the signs in the sky with the darkening of the moon, sun and stars. If all those things are just the beginning of the tribulation to fall on us, I kind of hope my years are over before those days come. I think now about my children and grandchildren and hope they do not have to go through those things either.

But the signs get closer every day. Like a woman getting closer to childbirth, those pains just get closer and closer together and they get more intense with each passing day until final full labor begins. Then those hours of labor are just miserable. That’s what the tribulation will be like. We’re just in the birth pangs now, but labor will begin soon and the labor will be absolutely miserable. The worst pain imaginable.

There is an end to it though. Jesus will take His faithful home. We will be with Him forever. His heavenly messengers will sweep across the earth to gather us together to join with Him for eternity. We will be spare the rest of the outpouring of God’s wrath, but those that are left will not. In the blink of an eye, we will be gone. The rest of humanity will face the worst God has to offer them. What is that? The absence of His presence. He will let them loose to face themselves without restraint of evil.

Can you imagine a world with no restraint on evil? Our world is a pretty wicked place right now, but there is still a strangle hold on evil for the sake of God’s faithful. God’s spirit is still in control of this place. He hold reign over Satan and his minions and will not let them loose to do as they please. But imagine if He opened the gates and let Satan do whatever he wished for a time.

We think about some of those seemingly soulless people we imprison for the rest of their lives – serial killers, serial rapists, those with no conscience that seem to thrive on the performance of evil and terror against others. Imagine a world full of those people running loose to do whatever they choose. That’s the world after the faithful are taken home with Christ.

There is coming a day when Jesus returns to take His faithful home. The question to ponder today, Will I be part of the crowd His heavenly messengers gather to be with Him, or part of the crowd left behind? It’s my choice as to which side I’m on. He’s ready to take Me with Him on that day fateful day, if I just repent and follow Him today.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

The rapture, get the question right. (Matthew 24:15-22) June 3, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Lamentations

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 24:15-22
Jesus: You will remember that the prophet Daniel predicted this—predicted the abomination that causes desolation—when you see the prophesied desolation of the holy place. (Reader, take notice; it is important that you understand this.) When you see this, let those in Judea flee to the mountains. If you are relaxing on your rooftop one evening and the signs of the temple’s destruction come, don’t return to your house to rescue a book or a pet or a scrap of clothing. If you are in the field when the great destruction begins, don’t return home for a cloak. Pregnant women and nursing mothers will have the worst of it. And as for you, pray that your flight to the hills will not come on the Sabbath or in the cold of winter. For the tribulation will be unparalleled—hardships of a magnitude that has not been seen since creation and that will not be seen again. Indeed the Lord God your merciful judge will cut this time of trial short, and this will be done for the benefit of the elect that some might indeed be saved—for no one could survive the depravity for very long.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

There’s a lot of debate about the rapture, the point in time when Jesus will resurrect His followers who have died and take up those who are still living to be with Him forever. Some say the rapture will happen before the tribulation, some say it will happen during the tribulation and some say it will happen after the tribulation. Scripture can support any of the theories depending on which scriptures you use and how you interpret them.

I suppose I could give you my opinion and you could send me your concurrence or argument against my opinion if you choose, but really, what does it matter? If God chooses for His children to go through the tribulation to sift out the true believers from those who just use His name as a tag to hide behind, that’s His business. He will be with us to the end and give us strength to endure the tribulation if He wants us to walk through it.

If God chooses to put us through to the midpoint of the tribulation when the three prophets speak in Jerusalem, that’s okay, too. We will witness the beginning of the outpouring of God’s wrath and perhaps be able to win some of those we’ve prayed for so long. Perhaps with God’s help in those days, He will enable us to share in new ways the good news of salvation so that some will come to know Him because of the intense suffering that so many will endure during those first three years of the tribulation. If then God chooses to take us home with Him at the midpoint to spare us from the remaining aftermath of His wrath, He just shows us more of His grace and mercy and love to an undeserving bunch of sinners.

And if God chooses to take us home with Him before the tribulation begins to spare us from even the beginning of the outpouring of His wrath upon the world for humanity’s refusal to acknowledge Him as God, then we are certainly blessed by the outpouring of His mercy. Do we deserve an early rapture? No. Do we deserve redemption? No. Do we deserve anything from God? No.

So how should we approach the debate when Christians begin to argue among themselves so fervently about pre-, mid-, and post-tribulation rapture? We should probably sit back and laugh at the brawl that ensues or perhaps weep for our misguided brothers and sisters who spend so much energy on such an unimportant thing.

What does it really matter after all? The question really is, “Will I be part of the rapture when it happens?” As long as I’m right with God, He will see me through the tribulation. Will I suffer during those times? Probably, as will every other human being on the planet. Will I suffer as much as those not right with God? Probably not. But for sure, if I’m right with God, I will not spend eternity in hell, separated from Him. If I’m right with God, I will be part of the rapture whenever it occurs and that’s the more important question. Not when it will be, but will I be part of it?

I will let others argue about when the rapture will happen. I don’t really care. I just want to be in it. So how do I want to live in relation to the tribulation? I will live so close to God that if the rapture is post-tribulation, I will rest in Him and be prepare to suffer through the awful state of the earth through those seven years of God’s wrath. If Jesus comes at the midpoint of the tribulation to take His bride home and the tribulation happens at the three and a half year point, I will praise Him for relief from the suffering and rejoice with Him forever. And if the rapture comes before the tribulation, well…, can you say joy unspeakable?

When those around you want to argue about the timing of the rapture, just remember the real question. It’s not when it comes, it’s are you part of it? 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.