Praying for Rapture, Preparing for Tribulation
The Church of the Living God has for the past 2000 years eagerly looked for the promised return of His Majesty, King Jesus. Spiritual ears have listened for the long awaited trumpet sound that will signal the beginning of the end of all things. Scholars, Skeptics and Spiritual Leaders have searched the Holy Scriptures looking for a clue to the time of Christ’s visible, bodily return. Church history is full of false prophets who have predicted the date of Christ’s return and the Rapture of the church. Dates have been given and dates have passed. Charts of Revelation have been created and used to teach others exactly what to look for and when He will return.
About the only thing a Christian can know for certain is that if someone says they can pinpoint the exact time of the Lord Jesus Christ’s return, that is precisely the time that He is NOT returning. Our Lord was very clear on this point. “No man knows the day nor the hour.’ Matthew 24:36
“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.” Matthew 24:36-37 (NASB)
The Bible does give us clues and signs leading to the Lord’s return, but the warning is obvious: Christ’s return to earth is imminent. It may happen at any time.
People who study the Bible are divided into two major views when it comes to the imminent return of Christ and the rapture of the church. These views are the Pre-Tribulational Rapture and the Mid- or Post-Tribulational Rapture. One group believes the Bible teaches that Christ will return before the seven years of tribulation and the other group is equally convinced that Jesus will come back either during the Tribulation or afterward.
We do know for certain that the coming of the Lord is imminent. It could happen at any time. We know that there are benchmarks that will precede His visible return, and that many scholars and students are pointing to current events and suggesting that the beginning of the end is near.
“Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.” Romans 13:11
Regardless of whether a person is pre, mid or post -trib in their interpretation of the end time Scriptures, there are some practical things that everyone must consider.
Like the men of Issachar, who “knew the times, and knew what to do” we must evaluate the times and know what we are to do.
We are living in unusual times as we look at the situation in the world today. My wife and I were in Egypt in 2010 months prior to the overthrow of the Egyptian government. While we were not aware of the imminent downfall of Mubarak’s regime, we could see signs that something was about to happen.
Today, we see the signs that something is happening on the global stage. Events are falling into place as a warning of the things to come.
Regardless of your eschatology or view of the end times, the closer the tribulation looms, it will become increasingly more difficult to profess Christ and live a Christian life. The question is not when the rapture will happen, but are we ready for the events that will proceed the terrible time known as the “Great Tribulation?”
The teaching of the pre-tribulational rapture of the church has led many Christians to be unprepared for challenging times. Since this view teaches that Christians will not go through the tribulation, the rapture is seen as a great escape from the harm that will come to others. Unfortunately this leaves many people unprepared for the birth pangs of the tribulation.
Like the Christians who have come before us, we pray, “Even so, come Lord Jesus.” ( Revelation 22:20 ) Yes we want the Lord to return. But if we are living in the last generation, then we have an awesome responsibility and opportunity.
We are praying for rapture, but we must be preparing for increasing times of difficulty and tribulation.
The coming Global calamity provides the Christian with one of the most incredible witnessing opportunities of the past 2000 years, but we must be ready. We must be able to survive and even thrive during the crash. We must be the salt and light for the end times. Churches and individuals need to get ready. Now is not the time to sit back and wait to be taken out of the world. We have been placed here for such a time as this and we need to be ready.
We do not need to be scared, frightened or fearful, just prepared. Our Lord’s parable of the talents reminds us that if we know the master is returning at any time, then we must be about His business and be ready, so that when He comes back, He will find us faithfully discharging the responsibility He gave us. We are to survive in order to save. We may well be the end time witnesses. God always has a witness.
Dear Christian, the reality today is that things are going to get worse. We must prepare spiritually, emotionally, and physically. We really must understand the times and know what to do.
This is what we learn from, our Master and Commander; Jesus Christ the King:
Mathew 24:6-14 NIV 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains. 9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
There are a number of ways to exegete or interpret this passage to fit a person’s particular viewpoint. You can read all sorts of things into this passage, but you can only get one thing out of it: Things are going to get worse before the end.
Some people think this passage of our Lord’s refers to the first century and it may in part do that, but there is also a second possible fulfillment to this prophecy of the end of the world that He foretold. Like Yogi Berra said, “It’s not over until it’s over.”
· Wars and rumors of wars: Rumors! Propaganda, Threats, but see to it that YOU are not alarmed! (Such things must happen- why? We are in a cosmic struggle for the hearts and souls of men and women boys and girls.) If you don’t understand this, not much else will make any sense. But the end is still to come. The war to end all wars has not happened.
· Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. There will be international struggles- It does not sound like the picture is one where mankind has progressed and gotten better. The Bible presents the opposite picture
· There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. (Various places, widespread.) The ancients never heard of the pacific rim ring of fire but they knew what this meant. There is coming a global catastrophe.
· These are the beginning of birth pains. Interesting choice of a word picture. Birthing. Something is taking place that will soon be here, much like a woman in labor, in pain, birthing a child.
· Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. One thing you cannot say about Jesus, he is not neutral. He is either your stepping stone or your stumbling block. This past week the YMCA decided to abbreviate their abbreviation and to be known in the future as The Y. It is interesting to read their spin on this clear move to drop the C from the YMCA. What is patently obvious is that the name of Christ is an embarrassment to this business that started out as a Christian organization.[i]
· At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. because of the increase of wickedness, the love of MOST will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. Turning from Christ and the church, walking away from their faith, betraying and hating and the love of most will grow cold. Will you be one of these? Will I? We must each examine ourselves, is your love growing cold? What is the temperature of your faith? Are you hot? Lukewarm? cooling off? You must stand firm to the end to be saved…Does that mean saved from the calamity or saved from your sin? We don’t have time to go into all the ramifications of that statement, but I believe that once you have truly tasted the water, you will never go back to drinking in the sewer. But it is going to take stamina.
· And this gospel. GOOD NEWS will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and THEN the end will come. There is a Christian witness today in every one of the 197 recognized countries of the world. The Bible is being translated into every known tongue and dialect. We are closer to the end then at any time in history.
The doomsday clock is a countdown to Global annihilation. We are currently at 6 minutes to midnight. The world scientists see an end in view, as Christ predicted.
In the end times some people will be very frightened; some will try to fight and others will try to flee. This coping strategy is called Fight or Flight.
Fighting is one possible strategy. These people will be collecting guns and ammunition. They will be building state of the art bomb shelters and seek survival at all costs.
Pollyanna: You may remember Haley Mills playing the part of Pollyanna. She loved to say; “Let’s play the glad game.” She would put a positive spin on everything. Optimism is good and has a place, but this extreme is where many Christians find themselves today. “Oh it is going to get better,” or “Oh, Jesus is coming to rapture us out of this sinking ship. I don’t worry, I just try to be happy.”
The other extreme is Chicken Little: He is all about gloom and doom. “The sky is falling , the sky is falling.” There are many today running around like that, not offering hope or solutions, just running around like a chicken ….
The Lord is very clear that neither of these approaches are valid for the Christ follower: In Matthew 24:6 we read;” See to it that you are not alarmed.” We are not to be afraid in the middle of these difficult circumstances. Jesus also said; “My peace I give unto you, not as the world gives, give I unto you.” John 14:27
In the old testament we read; Psalm 27:3 KJV “Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this I will be confident.” It is not the circumstances that determine our attitude, it is our faith in Christ. We are to be “faithing” the future.
The third option is the boy scout. His motto is: “Be prepared.” We can have a healthy optimism and a reasonable concern, but we need to be prepared for what Jesus told us was going to take place.
How should we then live? By hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. Regardless of where you feel the rapture will take place, things are going to get worse before they get better. We know that everything will work out in the end, and if it’s not working out, it’s not the end.
Matthew 24:6 These things MUST come to pass. It will happen. We do not need to go in fear, but in faith. We are Overcomers and on the winning team. But there is still much to be done. And we must strengthen each other in our faith and witness. Teaching and encouraging and by all means winning some souls to Christ before it is too late for them.
Survival
Surviving to Serve. The Christian is not in this world to seek his or her own comfort. There is a higher calling for the Christ follower. Part of preparing for a time of tribulation or difficulty is planning how to help and serve others. By planning and preparing now, the Christian will be in a unique position, not only to survive but to thrive and to accomplish the work God intended for His church. This generation may well be the witnesses to and for the beginning of the end. The church must be ready for the opportunities that will be present just prior to Christ’s Second Coming.
The following items are given for consideration and planning. Many groups are now in the process of preparing for a time of chaos. There are many websites directed at planning and products for emergency preparation. Some websites will be included in this brochure.
Regardless of your theology, being prepared for an emergency is a good idea. Whether it is a local power outage, a regional disaster or the complete collapse of a nation, we are being warned and called out to be ready.
The Survival rule of Three:
Your safety and survivability requires that you not exceed:
3 seconds of major bleeding
3 minutes without oxygen; asphyxiation, drowning
3 hours without shelter; exposure
3 days without water; dehydration
3 weeks without food; starvation
A good plan is also built around the number 3: Prepare for a three day emergency. Get enough supplies, fuel and food for three days. Once you have made that step, begin your planning for a three week emergency. Then go on to three months and eventually a three year plus plan. Here are some items for your consideration:
Planning: The nuts and bolts of survival. Preparation has to do with planning and is not only the place to begin but it is perhaps the most important aspect of survival.
Defense: With a breakdown of society, rampant fear and the inability of the police or National Guard to keep order, it will become increasingly necessary for families to protect their lives, their neighbors and their survival supplies.
Medical: The response time of medical help may be extended or non existent. Hospitals will be taxed to overwhelm their capacity. Families must be ready for emergency trauma care and the ability to treat first aid situations. Prescription and over the counter medicines may be unavailable. There is also a need for sanitation and personal hygiene concerns.
Shelter: Most survival materials are written for wilderness survival. Of utmost concern is the need for urban survival, the possibility of living in your own home without water, electricity, gas, etc. Also the concern of protecting your shelter in case of fire, flood and other natural or man made disasters.
Water: Filtering and storing potable water is a major concern for which most urban dwellers are not prepared.
Food: Nutrition and health is a key to survival sustainability. Stores may not be able to stock enough food. Bartering and sharing food will be a necessity. We may see the time when a piece of bread could buy a bag of gold.
Quality of Life: Communication, transportation, energy, entertainment. (Bibles for home group studies)
Find others who are also interested in emergency preparedness. Share ideas, encourage and support one another. Make sure your family is fully aware of your preparedness plans. Test your equipment and supplies.
Wal Mart is now selling a wide variety of dehydrated foods in #10 cans. Try some of the food before you have to use it. Attend a survival fair or workshop. Read what others are doing and pray that God would show you what you are to do.
Websites: The following websites are included not to endorse, but as a representative sample of the “Preppy” movement. Visit these sites and then go to the links on each of the sites, those will take you to other links. There are many good and not so good sites encouraging people to get ready for emergencies
The Survival Mom.com, Ready Nutrition.com, SHFT plan.com
“He that testifies of these things says, ‘Surely I come quickly’. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” Revelation 22:2
[i] “We want to be inclusive” they say. I say, How inclusive is dying for the sins of the entire world? They say Christianity is about hate and I say Christianity is about love. They say that there are many religions and ways to get to God, and I say there are many ways to get to Jesus, but only one way to get to God. And I did not make that up. Jesus said, I am THE way THE truth and THE life, no man comes to the Father, except by me. Oh yes, He is either your stepping stone or your stumbling block. (Please hear me, don’t boycott the Y, join it and be salt and light.)
