Another article written in 2008

 This topic is a result of a conversation with someone online.

http://voices.yahoo.com/my-answer-questionpretrib-midtrib-2175109.html?cat=9


My Answer to the Question.."Pretrib, Midtrib, or Post Trib for the Rapture
The Rapture What I Believe & Why

I believe that those who are saved will not go through the tribulation because of this verse...
(1 Thessalonians 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ)

(When the tribulation comes to the earth I personally believe that it will be a time of horror that will be like no other time in history before or since, I believe that it will be the wrath of God poured out in such away as to make many believe they are insane, but without the ability to truly lose their sanity, remaining fully aware of everything that is going on around them as they go through this horrible time., I do believe we are closer to the time of the rapture than at any point & time in history for many reasons.

I know other generations have though the same, at times. but with this generation the speed at which anyone can communicate with anyone else worldwide has never been known before unless it was before the flood, also at no other time in known history have people been able to travel so fast and so far, to basically any place on the face of the earth, not to mention if someone has enough money they can buy tickets to take trips to the moon, (I read an article a while back of some person who was very rich who paid to go on some kind of flight to space recently, & I have heard there are people who are already trying to figure out a way to make travel to outer space something that some can do who are not rocket scientists, but just every day people.

(Who just so happen to have lots of money to spend on something that I would consider a major luxury, but it's their money, not mine, lol)

Also if you will read the verses above the one I quoted we are told that we won't be taken by surprise as the world is because we know what to look for. I'll go ahead and copy paste that here okay,

Thessalonians 5:1-9
1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. *** ( I believe he said this because it had already been told & was common knowledge)

2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. ***(this I believe reminds us even though we will see that the time is right or ripe for the return on Christ we will not know the hour or the day, but we will not be taken by surprise because while the world is not believing or expecting we will be expecting the return of Christ at some point, although some saved people may believe that it will be at some distant point in the future)

3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. ***(This I believe is a warning that those who are in governmental power or position will try to hide from the general public the way things are, and will say everything is improving or we are at peace, or we now live in a safer world than at any time before due to... whatever they think up to say, but even as this is said and being promoted the rapture will happen, and the media will be used to try to calm the panic that will very quickly premeditate the entire world, *I don't believe anyone will not know that the light has gone out of the world when the rapture happens, when the saved are taken from this world there will be no mercy or escape for anyone who is left, people will be more savage and cruel than at any other time in history before or since, That is what I personally believe that this verse is saying)

4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. *** (This is a reminder to us to not fear, because even as we see many of the signs that tell us the end is near we can know without a doubt imho that the tribulation has not started because we are still here, I don't believe the saved will be here when the tribulation happens, those who are truly saved will be expecting the rapture but won't know the exact day or time just the same as when you know you're going to have a baby or know you're going to die within a certain period of time, you really don't know the exact day or hour unless your own death row or something but even then you don't not really because sometimes I have heard the executions don't always work as planned.)

5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. ***(This is also a reminder in my opinion that as long as "light" is in the world the tribulation has not happened or even started yet, I personally believe many people will falsely believe the tribulation has started when in fact it has not, I mean think about it I wonder how many people who went through the holocaust who were saved, may have thought they were walking through the tribulation, because that was a horrible time, or even further back in history what about those who were placed in sheepskins to slowly suffocate to death or were used as human torches when they professed or showed evidence of believing in the God of heaven, I think many people have falsely at different times believed they were walking into the tribulation, when they were not, they were only in a very dark period of history. I think that what has been seen in those times is only a very dim shadow of what is to come, especially when you realize that all who come to Christ after the rapture of the church will be martyred for their faith)

6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and are sober. ***( this is not telling us to sit around and worry or dwell on what we cannot change this is telling us to remember what is coming and live our lives in such a way that others can see Christ in us, it is also telling us that we need to remain faithful, *I don't believe a saved person can lose their salvation, but I do believe a saved person can lose their testimony, which can be a huge stumbling block to others, imho. I believe this section is reminding us that we should live what we say we believe, also it is saying for us to not have a "dead" type faith, or believe without showing any evidence of believing, I mean think back to Lot and his family, *he lost is whole family because no one knew what he stood for, he was not even able to convince his family when it was most important, not only that the angels had to take him by the hand and practically drag him out or the city. I mean think about that for a second. also think about what God had told Abraham, he said if there were at least ten righteous he would not destroy those cities even though they were very wicked, now count up the number of relatives that the Bible hints at that he had living in the city with him, his sons and daughters and their spouses & his wife & himself, it adds up to a min of ten. But when God checked he only found one that was truly righteous, but it was one who was living with a carnal faith, meaning he was feeding into his fleshly desires more than he was feeding into his spiritual faith, *he was more interested in the desires of his flesh than he was in placing his faith & trust in the God of heaven. He never stopped believing but he with the choices he made no one not even his family could see any reason for them to believe in the God of heaven. Now look at Lot's wife, she was able to fake believing as he did all the way out of the city, but then when it really counted what was truly in her heart came out, and it was not the faith & trust in the God of heaven it was instead the desires for all that she knew, her home, her children, family, friends, the society she knew and loved, that is why she never made it any further than she did, because when she looked back she looked back not only with her eyes but with her heart, what was in her heart came to the surface, and it was not the love of God, think about that for a little bit, & see if you can see what it is I am saying, also see if it makes sense that this is why we are told to remember Lot's wife, I mean imho she could of even been lying to herself that she believed and trusted in the same God as her dh but when it really counted, and really came right down to it, she never had. *I think too many people have made false professions of faith, & are believing themselves to be okay or saved, when they have never really accepted Christ at all, and because of that when it really counts they won't have what it takes to get into heaven, good works is not enough, the only thing that gets anyone into heaven is the blood of Christ, if someone says they are saved, then shows no evidence or change then according to the scriptures it is highly likely they have never gotten saved in the first place, the Bible says you become a new creature, a saved person does not stay the same, if someone stays the same, has the same desires * feeds into those desires then it is very likely they need to back up and check to see if they had ever really gotten saved to start with, also that is not being judgmental because the Bible tells us we will know them by their fruits whether they are good or bad..)

7 For they that sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. ***(This is anyone who is claiming to be saved, but may or may not really be, I believe a carnal Christian is just as likely as an unsaved person to behave badly, and these are the saved who will be taken by surprise and will be ashamed when they leave this world in the rapture, *remember I said I don't believe that a person who has truly been saved will ever lose their salvation, but I do believe that a truly saved person can lose their testimony and become a stumbling block to others, and can bring shame to the name of Christ by the way they live their lives. Also whatever you put into your mind and heart is going to come out in your actions, in your words and deeds sooner or later, because an unsaved person can only pretend so long to be saved. As seen when we look back at Lot's wife, the same as a saved person can only pretend to be lost or just like the world around them so long before what is truly in their heart comes out, as we see when we look at Lot. Lot lost a lot, and for all eternity he has to live with the knowledge he did not live as he should have, by his life he brought shame to his family, & society, *incest is shameful, and so is telling all the men of a city they can do as they please with your daughter's. That is shameful. But he had fed into the flesh so much and for so long he had lost his moral compass, he had forgotten God but God had not forgotten him as evidenced when God allowed the angels to bring him out of the city, even as he was standing there trying to remember to decide for God, God decided for him, Because *no one is strong enough or able to pluck any out of the hand of God, and Lot was in the hand of God, even though he lived his life in such a way that he lost a lot, I mean think about it)

8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. ***(This is an encouraging verse because it tells us we have hope, those who are lost don't even have the hope of anything more than what they can see, hear and feel in this life, but the saved person has the hope of salvation because we have placed our faith in what cannot fail, faith is the substance or what has not yet happened, all who are saved who are not yet in heaven are expecting that God has a place waiting for us in heaven and that is one reason we can have an abundance of love in our hearts when we really think about how much Jesus Christ gave up so that we could have life, life eternal instead of death eternal (which is what hell is along with flames and torment, in hell people are dying over and over again, it does not end, and they are fully aware of all that they are living,)

9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, ****(and again this is a reminder that God has not appointed us to wrath because Jesus Christ has paid for our sins, and has made away for us to avoid what is coming to this earth when the tribulation begins, I have no doubt however that many even here will believe that the tribulation has began because of what that we will live through during our lifetimes, and some may believe we have already began into the tribulation, but I don't. I think we are feeling the birth pangs for the tribulation or return of Christ but I think that until we see an overall falling away we are only seeing the false labor pains that are just getting the earth prepared for what is to come, and it is coming just as when you are nine months pregnant you're going to have a baby sooner or later, and some of us have had false labor pains for several months ahead of the birth of our child. With one of my children I had prelabor pains for nearly three months * and these were very painful, but it was not labor, but when I did really go into labor my labor was very fast, like within forty-five minutes, meaning the baby was born in the car, *note that is not a good place to have a baby, lol, but the point of that is I knew that I was having signs and symptoms of delivering a baby for several months so while it was in one way a surprise that I went into real labor suddenly in another way it wasn't because of the fact being I knew he was coming and I knew what to expect, *I did not expect him to be born in the car by the way, lol* and I had been to the doctor the day before so it was not like I just stayed home waiting until it was too late to reach the hospital, I believe that this is a good example of what is going to happen with the rapture, the saved are going to be caught up ready or not, and the lost are going to be surprised when so many people vanish. )

*note, by the saved being caught up ready or not what I mean is some people who are truly saved but for whatever reason are living as carnal Christians will be like the child caught with his or her hand in the candy dish, that they were told to leave alone. Because if someone is truly saved, not just making a profession then I don't believe that they can pluck themselves out of God's hand nor do I believe God is unable to hold on to who he has saved, All who come to Christ were bought with a price, and it was not cheap, to say someone can possibly lose their salvation imho cheapens the complete and finished work of Christ on the cross.

I have put a lot of thought into this because of my own background, I did at one time think people could lose their salvation but the more I studied this topic the more I began to see that was like saying God was limited in what he could or could not do, or that God was not quite strong enough to hold onto what he had bought and paid for with his own blood, the price of salvation was high, and should not be taken lightly, but at times I believe we all do especially when are attention is taken away from God by this world. Sometimes we just need to slow down, and remember that as chaotic as this world becomes God is still in control and he has never lost control and he will never lose any who have completely and fully placed their faith and trust in the complete and finished work of Christ.

While many things will fail us in this life God will never fail, God loves us, and God will meet our needs, and as we put him first in our lives he will give us the desires of our hearts. But we have to put him first, lest we are just asking for material things in vain.

I personally believe when we place God first in everything, that the material things of this world will not hold the same place of value in our hearts. Because we will be able to see how silly it is to try to hold on to something that will not last, it is better to take a hold of what cannot fail and what we cannot lose that being the complete and finished work of Christ.