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Psalm 51:17
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Excellent Post, FervorForFaith - a couple things to point out...
Mat 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Mat 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Compare this passage to...
1The 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1Th 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
1Th 4:16 For 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:
1Th 4:17 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.
1Th 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Notice in the Matthew 24 passage, talking about Jesus's 2nd Coming, it mentions nothing about dead saints seeing the Lord mentioned in 1 The 4:13-18. The 1 The 4 passage says the saints(both the dead ones and the ones alive remaining) are rising in the air to meet the Lord, while the Matthew 24 passage says how it's the angels that gather together the elect.
Rev 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
Rev 6:13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
Rev 6:14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Rev 6:15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
Rev 6:16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
Rev 6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
Compare that to the 1 The 4:13-18 passage - again, says nothing about the saints(both dead and alive remaining) in the passage concerning the 6th seal.
Rev 19:14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
Look in your KJV - the words "which were" is italicized - if the rapture is post-trib, then why do they use past tense here? Obviously, the KJV translators knew what they were doing.
With that being said, no, I don't agree with the angle of the pre-trib theory that the rapture will happen imminently(like a week from now, tomorrow, or while I'm typing this post). There are things that need to come to pass before the 7 year trib starts - for example, IMHO, the AC won't just show up out of thin air after the rapture of the church(like most popular mainstream bible teachers like John MacArthur and Hal Lindsey would make you believe). There will likely be a world figure who slowly rises to popularity and power before he signs the Daniel 9:27 covenant. Christians, especially those who are watching in these last days, will notice him, but the lost world and the pseudo-Christian modern-day church won't.
Luke_21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
2Th 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2Th 2:2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
We're already seeing a falling away of the church here in America(and the world) - just NO biblical truth in these modern-day churches. Notice the word "and", it's NOT "then"(like the popular modern-day bible teachers want to make you believe) - IOW, we're seeing prophecy unfolding already with the falling away of the church. But when this world figure rises to popularity and power, we will notice him. Ultimately, you can still have a pre-trib rapture b/w the time he rises to popularity and when he signs the Daniel 9:27 covenant.
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